A recent investigation by the New York City Times has revealed that one of the largest players in the steel trade, the American steel mill, has received millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to build fences for steel construction projects.
In fact, the federal government has spent more than $1 billion since the mid-1980s to buy and maintain the steel fences that line highways, railroads, and other major infrastructure.
The steel industry has received subsidies from the federal Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to build the barriers along major highways and to install steel barriers along the Atlantic Coast.
The New York investigation revealed that a consortium of steel companies including American Steel, United Steelworkers, and United States Steel, which owns a vast majority of American steel, has given $750 million in taxpayer money to build and maintain more than 1,300 miles of steel fences in the United States.
In a letter dated March 4, 2017, the New Yorker reported that the American Steel Group, a joint venture of United Steel Workers and United Steel Corporation, was awarded $1.6 billion in taxpayer-funded highway and highway construction grants between 2009 and 2021.
In its letter to the Federal Highway Administration, American Steel said the government has awarded “more than $3 billion in grant funding for highway construction projects across the United State since 2009.”
The company added that “over $750,000 in highway and construction grants” went to the New Jersey-based American Steel Steel in 2017 alone.
The letter also said that the company was awarded more than “10 million dollars in highway construction and $500 million in highway rehabilitation grants” between 2013 and 2019.
The letter said American Steel has also received more than 20 million dollars from the Federal Transit Administration to buy up land in the U.S. to build new fencing and other infrastructure.
“We are committed to supporting local communities and businesses in their ability to benefit from this infrastructure program, which we believe will improve the quality of life for residents, businesses, and visitors to our country,” American Steel spokesman John Kollner said in a statement to the Times.
“These are the kinds of partnerships that we believe can help strengthen the economy and improve quality of living for our residents, our communities, and the American people,” he added.
American Steel is one of three major American steel companies to have received a $1,000,000 federal grant to build more than 300 miles of fencing.
The other two companies are U.K.-based Tata Steel and Canada-based U.N.-based ArcelorMittal.
The government’s subsidies for the steel companies came under scrutiny during President Donald Trump’s administration, which led to his recent decision to cancel a $300 billion deal to build a wall along the Mexican border.
The $300-billion steel and cement project would have provided a border wall between the United United States and Mexico and would have doubled the size of the fence.
The $1 trillion project, which was originally expected to be completed by 2023, was halted by Trump after the president’s inauguration.
The American Steel company is one part of a larger steel industry that receives billions of dollars annually from the U,S.
government.
In the last fiscal year alone, the industry received more money from the government than all the companies combined.
The industry is also the largest single source of funding for infrastructure projects.
Last year, the government spent more money on highway construction than any other industry group.