Layoffs coming to Cleveland

May 13, 2023

WEIRTON – Approximately 300 employees of the Cleveland-Cliffs tin mill operation will be laid off in June, with company officials pointing to the importing of foreign-produced materials as the cause.

“Once again, unfair trade practices are harming good paying, union jobs,” Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ chairman, president and chief executive officer, said. “Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers have partnered to bring a trade case before the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce to address the surge of dumped and subsidized tin mill product imports. We greatly appreciate the vocal support and leadership of Sens. Manchin and Capito and other influential elected officials, and we are optimistic that this critically important trade case will succeed.”

The company and USW in January filed petitions against eight companies related to what officials say are unfairly traded tin and chromium coated sheet steel products. The petitions seek the imposition of duties on U.S. imports of tin mill products from Canada, China, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The following month, U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; J.D. Vance, R-Ohio; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; and Mike Braun, R-Ind.; as well as U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta; Carol Miller, R-W.Va.; Alex Mooney, R-W.Va.; and Frank Mrvan, D-Ind.; sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce in support of Cleveland-Cliffs’ antidumping petition.

Friday morning, Manchin, in a press release, reinforced his support for that petition.

“Make no mistake, the loss of jobs in Weirton is a direct result of the dumping of imported tin mill products in our domestic market,” said Manchin. “I am adamant that we focus on returning these manufacturing jobs to the United States, but we must protect the jobs that remain in places like Weirton. Nearly 400 people are in turmoil today in West Virginia and Eastern Ohio, as they search for opportunities to provide for their families. I will do everything I can to ensure West Virginians and all Americans have assurances that their jobs are safe from unfair practices of other countries in the steel industry.”

According to Manchin’s office, Cleveland-Cliffs has invested more than $50 million in the Weirton facility in the last two years in an effort to optimize its production capabilities. The volume of tin mill imports, though, have surged by more than 37 percent in the last three years, Manchin said.

“Our local steelworkers truly appreciate Manchin’s continued support in protecting our jobs in Weirton,” said Mark Glyptis, United Steelworkers Local 2911 president. “Hardworking West Virginians are in a fight for American industry. With the help of Manchin, his colleagues in the United States Congress and continued support from our state and local officials, we are confident we will stop these unfair practices, alleviating the pain felt by the 300 families affected by these recent layoffs in the future.”

The Weirton tin facility employs approximately 950 area residents in the manufacturing of tin plate.

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