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Steel Industry Calls For Infrastructure in Next Stimulus Bill

Five major steel industry groups are urging Congress to put infrastructure investment in the next phase of COVID-19 stimulus legislation. “A staggering backlog of substandard bridges,” they say, presents substantial opportunity for putting the country back to work.

Posted: April 1, 2020

Steel and infrastructure will be critical in the nation's economic recovery, say five major steel industry groups. Steel is sold directly or through national distributors to construction companies and to approximately 1,000 American steel fabricators who have built plants and created jobs in virtually every congressional district in America.

A letter to Congress from five steel industry organizations this week is urging legislators to put significant infrastructure investment in the next phase of COVID-19 stimulus legislation to provide a clear path toward our nation’s recovery.

Sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, the call for infrastructure as part of stimulus spending came from: the American Institute of Steel Construction, American Iron and Steel Institute, Steel Manufacturers Association, the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports, and Specialty Steel Industry of North America.

“American businesses will not likely feel the full economic impact of COVID-19 until later this year, as social distancing and shelter-in-place measures undoubtedly save lives but continue to slow economic activity in the manufacturing and construction sectors,” the groups said. “Making a long-term and robust infrastructure investment now will not only respond to the urgent transportation system needs that are well known, but it also will create high paying jobs allowing businesses and families to recover from this extremely difficult economic shock.”

The letter reiterated that 38% of America’s 616,000 bridges are in need of replacement or rehabilitation, according to the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory.

“With such a staggering backlog of substandard bridges, there is significant opportunity to put Americans back to work and back on the road to economic recovery,” they wrote. “We can … improve quality of life in our cities, towns and rural areas and drive commerce and supplies across our nation by making infrastructure investment a critical component of the next stimulus package by including Buy America provisions and using domestically produced and fabricated steel.”

The groups concluded that the infrastructure supply chain for steel products used in highway and bridge construction “starts with American steel producers, who have revolutionized the industry by developing clean and efficient steelmaking processes at mills located strategically throughout the country,” noting that steel is sold directly or through national distributors to construction companies and to approximately 1,000 American steel fabricators who have built plants, and created jobs, in virtually every congressional district in America.