Senator Charles Schumer (D, New York)
/ File photo
AUBURN, CAYUGA CO. -- A U.S. Senator is calling in the military to buy steel from local companies instead of looking overseas.
Senator Charles Schumer (D, New York) visits the Nucor Corporation in Auburn Tuesday to call on the Department of Defense to stop buying steel from around the world instead of here at home, which he says hurts steel producers like Nucor. Schumer is now urging military officials to restore a requirement that military steel be 100% made in the U.S. to boost jobs locally.
In 2009, the Defense Department ended the 35 year rule requiring military steel plate to be 100% made in the U.S. as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan increased demand. Schumer says the decision allowed foreign steel melted and produced in countries like China to compete with New York steel producers. Some of the countries, Schumer says, do not play by global trading rules.
Nucor currently employs about 300 people at its Auburn plant.
