The US government is likely to announce major cuts in the size of the steel industry in the next few months, according to a leaked memo seen by the Associated Press.
The Trump administration is likely on track to announce significant cuts to the size and composition of the United States steel industry by the end of the year, according the leaked memo obtained by AP.
It is a reminder of the threat of a US-led trade war with China and is likely part of a concerted effort by Trump administration officials to take on a key part of the American economy, a senior administration official said.
In a memo seen exclusively by AP, National Industrial Relations Board director Dan Glickman said that a cut to the steelmaking industry would have serious economic consequences for the US steel industry.
The memo, obtained by the AP, shows that the administration is planning to cut the workforce at America’s largest steelworks by more than 30,000.
According to the memo, the reduction is expected to cost the US economy $1.5 billion in lost jobs over the next five years.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The administration has made a series of moves to beef up the United Steelworkers (USW) union.
In July, President Trump ordered a $1 billion boost to the USW’s workforce and promised a $2 billion boost by 2020.
Trump has also called for an increase in steelworkers’ pay, which the White House said will be $2.40 an hour by 2020, far more than the $1 an hour that the US is currently paying.
But the memo also said that the Trump Administration could increase pay to $3 an hour.
“The reduction in steel manufacturing jobs could result in a net loss of approximately 20,000 jobs,” Glickmann wrote in the memo.
“We expect to see this number increase to 50,000 by 2019, which would represent an additional loss of over 400,000 USW jobs.”
The memo also noted that the trade war between the US and China has been the subject of considerable attention.
Trump administration officials have argued that the steel sector is a key economic engine of the US.
They have said that China is responsible for the loss of jobs in the US, that it is dumping cheap steel into the US market, and that the Chinese are stealing American steel from American mills.
In response, the steelworkers union has pushed for tariffs on Chinese steel, accusing the US of being a “global leader” in the steel market.
The Trump administration has said that it supports the union’s stance, saying that it does not have a problem with imports from China.
The Trump Administration has also been under pressure to reverse the Obama administration’s decision to allow the import of more than 400 million metric tons of steel from China to the United State.
Trump’s administration has faced criticism from members of Congress for not fully implementing the trade agreement.
They say that it would have been more beneficial to the trade deal to have had the US trade deficit with China fully eliminated.