According to media reports, President Trump’s promise that new US pipeline projects will use US-produced steel does not apply to the Keystone XL project. Last month, Trump told a gathering of CEOs, including US Steel’s Mario Longhi, that the Keystone project would adhere to “Buy America” preferences.
A White House spokeswoman told Politico on Thursday that the project does not count as a “new” or “retrofitted” pipeline because it has been in the works for almost a decade, and therefore is not subject to Trump’s made-in-America requirement.
In January, Trump signed an order calling for all new pipeline projects or those undergoing significant retrofits or repairs to “use materials and equipment produced in the United States.”
A spokesman for TransCanada, the company in charge of the Keystone project, said they plan to use North American steel for at least 75 percent of the project, with a majority of that coming from the US. The rest of the steel pipe used will come from India and Italy. Company estimates in 2012 placed the total steel pipe required for the project at 821,000 tons.
In late February, after Trump signed an executive order allowing the Keystone project to continue, TransCanada suspended a $15 billion lawsuit against the US that was filed after President Obama rejected the project in 2015.