Vance heralds ‘industrial renaissance’ in his visit to a South Carolina steel plant
HUGER S C AP Vice President JD Vance visited a steel plant in South Carolina on Thursday as he heralded the launch of an industrial renaissance in the U S in part due to President Donald Trump s moves to boost domestic industry Vance made the trip to Nucor Steel in Huger as part of the administration s events marking Trump s first days in office I hope every single one of you you guys in front me feel a sense of pride because these are the products that genuinely make America work Vance communicated several hundred guests and Nucor steel workers gathered on a gravel lot outside one of the buildings at the company s sprawling facility These are the products that make our citizens lives better Nucor s corporate leaders have cheered Trump s tariff policies which have shaken the global business activity and proved less popular with other business leaders The company s stock rose when the Trump administration declared new tariffs on imported steel though the price has fluctuated since After an earnings call this week Nucor CEO Leon Topalian reported on CNBC that the company s backlog of orders which its leaders have mentioned is higher than last year at this time served as a signal of improving signs coming through the financial market It was Vance s first visit to South Carolina an industry-rich state that also plays a pivotal role in national politics Trump won the state s first-in-the-South GOP primary in which helped cement Trump s role as a frontrunner that year and he s remained popular in the state ever since From the stage Vance shouted out two of the state s elected Republicans in attendance Lt Gov Pam Evette and Rep Nancy Mace Both have been supporters of Trump and Vance and both are expected to vie for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the state next year Vance who was accompanied on the visit and factory tour by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin noted the -day mark for the administration also signaled force dominance adding that there needed to be no tension between ramping up domestic manufacturing and safeguarding the conditions We have started drill baby drilling Vance commented It means cheaper gas and it means an America that is self-reliant Drilling off South Carolina s coast has long been a controversial issue in the state which has miles kilometers of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean Trump signed a memorandum in directing the interior secretary to prohibit drilling in the waters off both Florida coasts and off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina until President Joe Biden in January moved to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in majority of U S coastal waters a last-minute effort to block doable action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling After taking office Trump mentioned he had directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to undo Biden s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts saying the last-minute action viciously took out more than million acres million square kilometers offshore that could contribute to the nation s net worth Vance s remarks came shortly after news broke that Mike Waltz the former GOP congressman from Florida was out as Trump s national guard adviser weeks after it was revealed that he had added a journalist to a Signal chat being used to discuss military plans Subsequently Trump posted on social media that he would be tapping Waltz to serve as ambassador to the United Nations and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take over Waltz s former duties in addition to serving as the chief U S diplomat Vance mentioned neither advance in his remarks Zeldin did not know about the U N appointment until an Associated Press reporter questioned for his reaction to it afterward He thanked the reporter for being the bearer of great news and announced he felt Waltz would do a tremendous job in the role Kinnard can be reached at http x com MegKinnardAP Source
