Biden to discuss steel, manufacturing jobs, tariffs during Pittsburgh visit

President Joe Biden will visit Pittsburgh Wednesday to discuss his administration’s efforts to bolster the domestic steel industry, arguing that he has been able to boost manufacturing jobs unlike his political rival former President Donald Trump.

Biden will visit the United Steelworkers union headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh in the afternoon.

In a Tuesday press call, White House officials said Biden will speak about his proposals to increase tariffs on Chinese-made steel, reiterate his desire to keep Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel domestically owned, and tout the investments made in the steel and manufacturing industries through the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law.

National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard said that Biden understands that steel mills helped to build the American middle class and touted Pittsburgh’s legacy of steel as a good backdrop to remind the nation of the administration’s efforts to boost domestic steel production.

“The president will talk about actions he will take to help protect American steel and American steel workers,” Brainard said.

She said that since Biden has become president, the U.S. has created 800,000 manufacturing jobs. In Pittsburgh, manufacturing jobs have ticked up marginally since 2021 but are still well below levels seen in the 2000s.

Brainard said the Trump administration failed to deliver on promises to increase manufacturing during the former president’s tenure.

A theme of Biden’s recent swing through Pennsylvania has been to contrast his policies with those of his rival.

In Scranton on Tuesday, he proposed a 25% minimum tax rate on billionaires and said, “when I look at the economy, I don’t look at it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago. I look at it through the eyes of Scranton,” according to The Associated Press.

Biden, a Scranton native, has made Pennsylvania a major part of his reelection campaign, already hiring dozens of staffers and establishing several campaign offices across the state — including in Pittsburgh.

It’s unclear how much staff and campaign infrastructure Trump has established in Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Biden will advocate tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum and back other efforts to help prevent Chinese steel from flooding the international market, moves supported by United Steelworkers union.

White House officials said China accounts for 50% of global steel production and its export prices are 40% lower than average. Officials said American steel is cleaner than Chinese steel and claimed that China is flooding the market at artificially low prices to hurt American production.

Both Biden and Trump have criticized the pending sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel Co., and Biden is continuing his predecessor’s tariff policy on Chinese steel.

U.S. Steel shareholders voted overwhelmingly last week to approve a $14.9 billion merger with Nippon, but the deal needs regulatory approval and has been the subject of concern by Biden and Pennsylvania’s two Democratic U.S. senators.

White House officials said Biden will reiterate his desire to keep U.S. Steel domestically owned, but didn’t specify any action the administration would take.