WEIRTON — Tom Willis, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, visited the site of the former Cleveland-Cliffs plant in Weirton, calling for stronger federal trade enforcement and economic policies aimed at protecting domestic manufacturing jobs.
Standing outside the idled facility, Willis said roughly 900 jobs were lost when Cleveland-Cliffs indefinitely idled the plant in April 2024.
“One of the things that we need to do at the federal level is to make sure that countries are not dumping their goods below market value into our markets and undermining American companies,” Willis said. “The U.S. government has to protect our domestic industries, industries in West Virginia, from dumping so foreign competitors aren’t releasing goods into this economy at below market prices to destroy our businesses and destroy jobs for working families.”
Cleveland-Cliffs announced the indefinite idling of its Weirton tinplate production plant in 2024, citing market conditions. The closure dealt a significant blow to the Northern Panhandle, which has long relied on steel and related manufacturing.
Willis, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) in the upcoming Republican Primary, said foreign competition has hurt American steelmakers for decades.
“It was Japan in the ’80s,” Willis said. “Fast forward, it’s Korea, China.”
He said federal trade policy must do more to address what he described as unfair trade practices and to ensure American manufacturers can compete on a level playing field.
In addition to federal action, Willis called for state-level policies that create what he described as a stable economic environment for working families.
“We’ve also got to create policies in West Virginia that create economic opportunities for working families,” Willis said. “So we’ve got a stable economic environment and they can rely on their jobs and corporations can be profitable and sustainable for the long term.”
Cleveland-Cliffs closure marked one of the largest recent manufacturing layoffs in the state.
