U.S. Steel to Shut Down Illinois Mill, but Trump-Era Deal Delays Worker Layoffs

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1309 EAT on Tuesday 9 September 2025

U.S. Steel to Halt Production at Illinois Mill, but Jobs Temporarily Protected Under Trump-Era Deal

U.S. Steel is set to halt production at one of its Illinois mills this November, but hundreds of workers will retain their jobs—for now—due to an agreement the company reached with the Trump administration.

U.S. Steel to End Production at Granite City Mill, But 800 Jobs Protected Through 2027 Under Trump-Era Deal

U.S. Steel will cease steel production at its Granite City, Illinois, mill by the end of October. However, all 800 workers at the facility will remain employed—at least through 2027—tasked with maintaining equipment and infrastructure.

The job security stems from provisions in a deal the company struck with then-President Donald Trump as part of its acquisition agreement with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel. The agreement included job protection measures and production guarantees aimed at preserving U.S. steel industry interests.

In a statement to CNN on Monday, U.S. Steel said it will “optimize its footprint” by concentrating steel slab production and processing at its Mon Valley Works in Pennsylvania and Gary Works in Indiana, while reducing slab consumption at the Granite City Works in Illinois. The company emphasized that no employees at the Granite City facility will be laid off or see changes to their pay as a result of the decision.

But the clock is ticking. U.S. Steel’s agreement only prevents the company from closing the Granite City facility or laying off its workers until June 2027.

The White House declined to comment immediately on the planned shutdown, and the United Steelworkers (USW) union has not issued a response. While USW locals in Pennsylvania backed the Nippon Steel acquisition, the national USW leadership has opposed the deal, citing concerns about foreign ownership and long-term job security.

“Issuing press releases and making political speeches is easy. Binding commitments are hard,” the United Steelworkers said in a statement following Trump’s rally in May. “The devil is always in the details, and that is especially true with a bad actor like Nippon Steel, which has repeatedly violated U.S. trade laws—devastating steel communities in Pennsylvania and beyond.”

The Granite City plant currently employs around 700 hourly workers represented by the USW, along with approximately 100 salaried staff. That workforce is a fraction of its former size; the facility once employed more than 2,000 hourly workers when it operated its own blast furnaces to produce steel from raw materials such as iron ore and coke.

Granite City Works shut down its first blast furnace in 2019, with the remaining one taken offline in 2023. Since then, the plant has operated solely as a finishing facility, processing steel slabs produced at other U.S. Steel mills.

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