Granite City

After newly acquired U.S. Steel scrapped its decision to wind down processing at the Metro East mill later this fall, steelworkers rallied this weekend in hopes of keeping the plant open beyond 2027.

The company announced earlier this month it would stop work at the Metro East plant this fall but now has changed course.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that the Trump administration exercised its veto power over plant decisions.

Confirming the company will cut processing later this fall in Granite City, U.S. Steel said it will move those responsibilities to bigger mills.

There will be no layoffs after October because of the decision, according to the memo.

Starting in fall 2025, the district’s elementary schools, at minimum, will serve grades kindergarten through six, with two schools serving pre-K students as well.

Residents of 21 ZIP codes in St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County are now eligible to seek compensation for radiation exposure through a federal program. However, residents of Venice, Madison and Granite City did not make it in the expansion.

With little being said of Granite City Works’ future, some are starting to ask: Have President Donald Trump and the companies kept their promises to those in the Metro East, or have they forgotten or abandoned them?

Budzinski doesn’t find Nippon’s announcement that it will retain production at Granite City Works for two years to be reassuring.

The new Japanese owner’s acknowledgement that it will maintain the status quo at the Metro East mill provides the first public remarks the company has made about Granite City Works’ future since late 2023.