JSW Steel USA CEO Robert Simon spoke with Fox Digital in an exclusive interview. (JSW Steel USA )
Simon told Fox News Digital that across his more than 30 years in the industry, U.S. steel manufacturers have complied with strict environmental and safety practices, and paid their employees fairly, while foreign steel manufacturers could skirt U.S. regulations while exporting their goods to the U.S.
"We, as steel producers, we paid our employees fair wages, treated them fairly, met some of the most – if not the most strict – environmental requirements in the world, and those practices in our markets, with the simple supply-demand equation establishes market pricing."
President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Circa Resort & Casino on Jan. 25, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
Simon celebrated in his comments to Fox Digital that Ohio families that had long worked in the steel industry are making a return to the factory as the industry reinvigorates under the first and second Trump administrations. JSW USA purchased the Ohio factory in 2018, after it had operated as a Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel plant, but sat dormant for years.
TRUMP ADVISOR TEASES NEW ‘GOLDEN AGE’ OF U.S. STEEL AND ALUMINUM
"This is a company that had been shut down for over seven years, when we acquired it. We hired a workforce, trained a workforce, all from the local area. What's really cool to see is we've got employees whose grandparents and great-grandparents worked in this same company, which ended up being shut down, and they're part now of reviving that company and bringing it to an offering of products that's extremely competitive and extremely impressive in terms of its value added products," Simon said.
Trump announced a reciprocal tariff plan on Thursday, tapping Howard Lutnick, his nominee for commerce secretary, to produce a report on reciprocal trade relations within 180 days. Lutnik said Thursday that he will have the report ready for Trump by April 1.
JSW USA purchased the Ohio factory in 2018, after it had sat dormant for years. (JSW Steel USA )
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, and the two discussed trade, the economic relationship between India and the United States and military sales. The pair also "committed to drive opportunities for U.S. and Indian companies to make greenfield investments in high-value industries in each other’s countries," including naming JSW’s operations at Texas and Ohio as a prime ongoing investment in the U.S., according to a joint statement from the two nations.
President Donald Trump and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a news conference at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
"The steel tariffs enacted by President Trump are a necessary step in leveling the playing field for American steelworkers and manufacturers. Foreign competitors fail to protect their workforce at the same safety standards, do not compensate them fairly, and produce steel that contributes to environmental degradation, all the while, seeking to flood the U.S. market, taking advantage of our strong economy, driving a collapse of our markets in the process," Simon added in comment provided to Fox Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-tariffs-spark-exciting-time-ohio-steel-plant-ceo-eyes-adding-jobs-boosting-productivity