Cliffs: ‘Tariffs have nothing to do with this decision’
According to MPR, Sen Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, leaked the news to the media ‘before the workers were even informed.’
March 22, 2025
Hundreds of steelworkers at two northern Minnesota mines have been notified that they will be temporarily laid off in May.
Earlier this week, Cleveland-Cliffs, one of the nation’s largest steel manufacturers, issued notices that it plans to idle its Minorca mine just north of Virginia, Minn. Further, the company said it will institute a partial idle at its Hibbing mine.
According to a statement from the organization, “These temporary idles are necessary to re-balance working capital needs and consume excess pellet inventory produced in 2024.”
The facilities being idled are used to mine taconite which is turned into iron ore pellets used in the production of steel. In essence, the company’s statement denotes that workers are no longer needed until the excess iron ore pellets produced last year are consumed.
As such, 630 workers will be temporarily laid off. In a letter obtained by WDIO, the company told local officials, “While we anticipate these layoffs will be temporary, we cannot predict their length, which may exceed six months.”
“The decreased domestic steel demand experienced in 2024 has caused Cleveland-Cliffs to accumulate excessive iron ore pellet inventory,” said the letter.
Politicians representing Minnesota’s Iron Range reacted to the news.
“We learned today that 600 of our friends and neighbors will be temporarily laid off at two taconite mines,” said Sen. Rob Farnsworth, R-Hibbing. “The Range delegation will work with the company and unions to help these affected workers where we can.”
“This is a devastating announcement for our region, and my first priority is standing with the workers and families who are facing this uncertainty,” said Rep. Spencer Igo, R-Wabana Township.
Farnsworth expressed disappointment that “another legislator leaked the news to the media before the workers were even informed.” According to MPR, Sen Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown broke the news “before the United Steelworkers union had briefed their members.”
On Thursday, The Star Tribune published a story about the layoffs. The headline of that article says: “More than 600 Iron Range steelworkers out of work as auto industry cuts orders because of tariffs.” The Star Tribune, often aligned with Democrat politics, produced no evidence that tariffs had anything to do with its conclusion.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is currently running for a U.S. Senate seat, shared the article on social media and, with no evidence, falsely claimed “tariffs are already hurting working families in Minnesota, most recently the 630 steelworkers who were laid off on the Iron Range today. Minnesota’s critical industries, and the workers who support them, are paying the price.”
Gov. Tim Walz made similar baseless comments.
To correct Flanagan’s and Walz’s statements, when asked if tariffs had anything to do with the layoffs, Cleveland-Cliffs told Alpha News that “tariffs have nothing to do with this decision.”
On its website, the company expresses support for steel tariffs, saying “steel tariffs have long played a crucial role in protecting the U.S. economy, national security, and industrial base from the adverse effects of global steel overproduction.”
PHOTO: Hibbing Taconite Company is located immediately north of the City of Hibbing. | Cleveland Cliffs
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-Alpha News