Cleveland-Cliffs just announced a $1 billion investment in its Middletown Works facility. With that investment, Middletown, Ohio, will become home to the world’s most advanced automotive steel manufacturing facility. Earning that title will take more than capital, so I want to thank the men and women who have already made Middletown home to one of North America's most productive steelmaking operations.
Unless someone makes the stuff, there is no stuff. And unless someone makes a profit, the stuff gets made elsewhere.
Middletown’s big announcement was made by Vice President J.D. Vance, who grew up there, whose Pappaw devoted his working life as a career welder there, and whose memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," tells the story of so many hillbilly families,
like mine, who traveled north to Ohio for factory jobs and a better life − their American Dream.
American manufacturers need a fair chance
I know the value of those jobs firsthand. Before serving in Congress, I owned or operated manufacturing companies here in Ohio. We had two plants in Troy and one in Fairfield doing metal stamping, plastic injection molding, and tooling. From that experience, I saw how American manufacturers were not competing on a level playing field. Federal policy increasingly put companies that kept production in America at a disadvantage.
The post-Cold War embrace of globalism rigged that competition against American manufacturers. NAFTA and the decision to grant China permanent normal trade relations opened the door to moving more production overseas, where American companies were forced to compete against foreign producers benefiting from lower costs and government subsidies. As production left, American manufacturers lost customers, and domestic suppliers lost the businesses they depended on. The Obama-Biden era failed to reverse that trajectory and added costly energy and environmental mandates that made it harder to invest, produce and compete.
President Donald Trump was elected to change that, and he has delivered. His first administration replaced NAFTA with the USMCA, which strengthened rules designed to encourage more production in the United States. His broader trade policy has also challenged countries that subsidize production and expect American workers to compete on an uneven playing field. His administration is also using tools like the Export-Import Bank to help American manufacturers compete for business against foreign companies backed by their own governments. These policies are making it more worthwhile to invest and produce here at home.
Middletown Works demonstrates the difference that approach can make. The original Biden-era project tied $500 million in federal support to a plan centered on “green steel” and decarbonization instead of lowering costs and making the plant more competitive. Cleveland-Cliffs later determined that the economics did not work because customers were unwilling to pay a premium for “green” steel.
A better investment in Middletown Works
Under President Trump, the Department of Energy worked with Cleveland-Cliffs to rescope that award toward a $1 billion modernization of Middletown Works. Cleveland-Cliffs will put up $500 million of its own capital to upgrade the blast furnace, improve efficiency, lower operating costs − instead of raising them − and keep making automotive steel in Middletown.
Federal policy should make it easier for manufacturers to invest and compete in America, not force them into more expensive projects their customers do not want.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ leadership and the men and women at Middletown Works deserve credit for keeping the plant competitive through years of difficult business cycles and trade policies. Congress has a role to play, too. That is why I introduced the bipartisan DPA Modernization Act of 2026 to update the Defense Production Act and strengthen the domestic industrial base America depends on for national security. A country that cannot make steel, critical components and other essential goods eventually becomes dependent on countries that can.
President Trump, Vice President Vance and I are fighting for a policy that gives American manufacturing a fair chance to win. Owners need a reason to invest here. Employees need a fair shot at high-quality jobs. Consumers need reliable domestic supply chains and strong competition.
The investment in Middletown matters because it shows American manufacturing can grow again when policy makes America a better place to invest and produce.
Warren Davidson represents Ohio’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Middletown.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Middletown shows how America can make things again | Opinion
