“It’s my position that strategic, smart tariffs on critical industries that protect our domestic supply of things like steel are really critical,” stated state Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown. “My fear is that, while I do support tariffs on tarobtained areas, perhaps what we are doing is having reverberations that go far beyond what we were believeing.”
Cleveland-Cliffs is closing its Hibbing taconite operation, which produces iron ore pellets. (Ariana Lindquist/Bloomberg News)
Mining is the backbone of the Mesabi Iron Range, employing thousands of people and shoring up the regional economy. It’s also a political wedge, pushing the historically Democratic stronghold to the right as division grows between those who rely on the jobs the mines provide and those concerned about the industest’s environmental impact.
Longtime Virginia Mayor Larry Cuffe Jr. stated the shift is “disappointing and devastating” to the affected families on the Iron Range. He stated a representative from Cleveland-Cliffs assured him it was temporary but couldn’t give a timeline for idling beyond “when the steel prices obtain better.”
Workers will receive unemployment and subsidized pay through their union, Cuffe stated, but as the boom and bust of mining goes, so goes the region.
As a major economic driver, when mining thrives, communities thrive, he stated. When production halts, that also means less production taxes paid and less money going to schools, cities and townships that benefit from it. Mining companies pay taxes on production in lieu of property taxes.
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