Donald Trump on Sunday said he will call the heads of US Steel, AK Steel and Nucor to ask them to pitch design ideas for the country-spanning barrier he wants to build along the Southern border.
Earlier in the week, Trump stated that the US steel industry was “practically extinct” before he took office, noting that thanks to the administration’s new policies, the domestic steel industry is now thriving. News reports confirm that US-based steel producers reported soaring profits during 2017, a trend which many see as being directly tied to the implementation of Section 232.
Trump told reporters that he’ll be asking domestic producers to design a “beautiful steel product” that will be used as a barrier.
Recent projections indicated the southern-spanning barrier would cost “at least” $25 billion; in a Friday press conference, Trump acknowledged that a steel barrier would “cost more,” although new projections are not yet available. It’s not immediately clear how much steel would be needed to construct a 30’ tall, 2,500-mile fence.
Some within the US had already begun to question, quietly, if domestic mills would donate steel to the project or if they would provide the US government with a significant discount, should the construction of a steel-slat barrier be approved.