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CTV News
14-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
U.S. manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump
President Donald Trump talks to workers as he tours U.S. Steel Corporation's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant, Friday, May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File) WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much, but they share a conviction that the government should help American manufacturers, one way or another. Democratic President Joe Biden handed out subsidies to chipmakers and electric vehicle manufacturers. Republican President Donald Trump is building a wall of import taxes — tariffs — around the U.S. economy to protect domestic industry from foreign competition. Yet American manufacturing has been stuck in a rut for nearly three years. And it remains to be seen whether the trend will reverse itself. The U.S. Labor Department reports that American factories shed 7,000 jobs in June for the second month in a row. Manufacturing employment is on track to drop for the third straight year. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported that manufacturing activity in the United States shrank in June for the fourth straight month. In fact, U.S. factories have been in decline for 30 of the 32 months since October 2022, according to ISM. 'The past three years have been a real slog for manufacturing,'' said Eric Hagopian, CEO of Pilot Precision Products, a maker of industrial cutting tools in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. 'We didn't get destroyed like we did in the recession of 2008. But we've been in this stagnant, sort of stationary environment.'' Big economic factors contributed to the slowdown: A surge in inflation, arising from the unexpectedly strong economic recovery from COVID-19, raised factory expenses and prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs added to the strain. Government policy was meant to help. Biden's tax incentives for semiconductor and clean energy production triggered a factory-building boom – investment in manufacturing facilities more than tripled from April 2021 through October 2024 – that seemed to herald a coming surge in factory production and hiring. Eventually anyway. But the factory investment spree has faded as the incoming Trump administration launched trade wars and, working with Congress, ended Biden's subsidies for green energy. Now, predicts Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, 'manufacturing production will continue to flatline.' 'If production is flat, that suggests manufacturing employment will continue to slide,' Zandi said. 'Manufacturing is likely to suffer a recession in the coming year.'' Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to protect U.S. manufacturers — and to coax factories to relocate and produce in America — by imposing tariffs on goods made overseas. He slapped 50% taxes on steel and aluminum, 25% on autos and auto parts, 10% on many other imports. In some ways, Trump's tariffs can give U.S. factories an edge. Chris Zuzick, vice president at Waukesha Metal Products, said the Sussex, Wisconsin-based manufacturer is facing stiff competition for a big contract in Texas. A foreign company offers much lower prices. But 'when you throw the tariff on, it gets us closer,'' Zuzick said. 'So that's definitely a situation where it's beneficial.'' But American factories import and use foreign products, too – machinery, chemicals, raw materials like steel and aluminum. Taxing those inputs can drive up costs and make U.S producers less competitive in world markets. Consider steel. Trump's tariffs don't just make imported steel more expensive. By putting the foreign competition at a disadvantage, the tariffs allow U.S. steelmakers to raise prices – and they have. U.S.-made steel was priced at $960 per metric ton as of June 23, more than double the world export price of $440 per ton, according to industry monitor SteelBenchmarker. In fact, U.S. steel prices are so high that Pilot Precision Products has continued to buy the steel it needs from suppliers in Austria and France — and pay Trump's tariff. Trump has also created considerable uncertainty by repeatedly tweaking and rescheduling his tariffs. Just before new import taxes were set to take effect on dozens of countries on July 9, for example, the president pushed the deadline back to Aug. 1 to allow more time for negotiation with U.S. trading partners. The flipflops have left factories, suppliers and customers bewildered about where things stand. Manufacturers voiced their complaints in the ISM survey: 'Customers do not want to make commitments in the wake of massive tariff uncertainty,'' a fabricated metal products company said. 'Tariffs continue to cause confusion and uncertainty for long-term procurement decisions,'' added a computer and electronics firm. 'The situation remains too volatile to firmly put such plans into place.'' Some may argue that things aren't necessarily bad for U.S. manufacturing; they've just returned to normal after a pandemic-related bust and boom. Factories slashed nearly 1.4 million jobs in March and April 2020 when COVID-19 forced many businesses to shut down and Americans to stay home. Then a funny thing happened: American consumers, cooped up and flush with COVID relief checks from the government, went on a spending spree, snapping up manufactured goods like air fryers, patio furniture and exercise machines. Suddenly, factories were scrambling to keep up. They brought back the workers they laid off – and then some. Factories added 379,000 jobs in 2021 — the most since 1994 — and then tacked on another 357,000 in 2022. But in 2023, factory hiring stopped growing and began backtracking as the economy returned to something closer to the pre-pandemic normal. In the end, it was a wash. Factory payrolls last month came to 12.75 million, almost exactly where they stood in February 2020 (12.74 million) just before COVID slammed the economy. 'It's a long, strange trip to get back to where we started,'' said Jared Bernstein, chair of Biden's White House Council of Economic Advisers. Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products said that it will take time to see if Trump's tariffs succeed in bringing factories back to America. 'The fact is that manufacturing doesn't turn on a dime,'' he said. 'It takes time to switch gears.'' Hagopian at Pilot Precision is hopeful that tax breaks in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill will help American manufacturing regain momentum. 'There may be light at the end of the tunnel that may not be a locomotive bearing down,'' he said. For now, manufacturers are likely to delay big decisions on investing or bringing on new workers until they see where Trump's tariffs settle and what impact they have on the economy, said Ned Hill, professor emeritus in economic development at Ohio State University. 'With all this uncertainty about what the rest of the year is going to look like,'' he said, 'there's a hesitancy to hire people just to lay them off in the near future.'' 'Everyone,'' said Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products, 'is kind of just waiting for the new normal.'' Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press
CBS News
04-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Video shows conductor stopping train, getting out and shooing young U.S. Steel eagle off the tracks
You could say Ocho has some nerves of steel. Ocho, the young eagle who recently fledged the nest at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, was captured on camera sitting right by the tracks, appearing rather undaunted as a train approaches. Video posted by PixCams, which runs a livestream of the nest, shows the train rolling to a stop as Ocho sticks around. The conductor can be seen getting up, and after a few seconds, Ocho finally takes the hint. Ocho flies off and lands on a nearby wire as the train starts to roll again. (Photo: PixCams) Ocho is exploring the world after accidentally fledging the nest last month. One moment Ocho could be seen standing on a branch, raising its wings — and falling. The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania says eagles in the area usually leave the nest mid-summer and keep returning until their parents kick them out. While it's the sixth season for dad Irvin at the nest, mom Stella replaced Claire, who left the nest late last year. Irvin and Stella laid three eggs, but only Ocho hatched in March. The appropriately-named Ocho is the eighth eaglet to hatch at the U.S. Steel nest. The nest was built along the Monongahela River in 2019, and a wildlife camera has been livestreaming the family since 2021.
CBS News
04-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Baby's body missing from Pittsburgh-area gravesite after burial 20 years ago
After 20 years of pain and torture, a Beaver County mother now has proof that the burial plot where her baby girl's headstone sits isn't where her daughter was buried. Christine Berezanich has never recovered from the death of her 2-month-old daughter, Italia Laird. "I loved her wish every being in my body," she said. "She was a very beautiful girl." What happened after Italia died in 2005 from sudden infant death syndrome hasn't made it any easier. "I would still go to the grave every year," Berezanich said. "I would still mourn her. I would take her flowers. I was talking to a ground that had no body." The area where she remembers burying Italia is 25 feet from where the monument company put her headstone. "I called there and she said she'd get back to me," Berezanich said. "She never called me. I felt betrayed by the church and by the company." For years, the monument company and the association that currently manages Holy Name Cemetery in West Mifflin have insisted the gravestone was placed where Italia was buried, Berezanich said. Once the church closed a few years after Italia was buried, the Catholic Parish Charities Association, part of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, took over. The change in management created challenges as the association cited records that it did not create itself. Berezanich found errors in the original church cemetery records, which show her 2-month-old daughter as having been born in 1904. Cemetery officials have since admitted to her that the pastor who managed the church was in the early stages of dementia. "I would look down there, and I would see the ground, and it would just anger me to the point I quit going," she said. She returned to the cemetery on Wednesday as the plot with the headstone was dug up with the help of a local funeral director. "He came over and said that the ground looked like it was undisturbed, like nobody ever dug the ground up," Berezanich said. KDKA's Ricky Sayer asked, "What are you feeling in your heart when you hear that?" "I told you so, and pain and anger," Berezanich said. "I was very angry. As I was walking away, I screamed as loud as I could to get the frustration out. How do you lose a baby? I didn't lose this child once. I lost her twice, and no parent should ever have to feel that loss." Probing is already underway to find the real location of Italia. Catholic Parish Cemeteries Association Regional Cemetery Coordinator Heidi Masterson provided KDKA-TV a brief statement: "I am doing everything I can and so is the operations team of the cemetery to find where baby Italia was buried in 2005 before we owned and operated the establishment," Masterson said. For now, Berezanich's pain and torture remain.
CBS News
26-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Bald eagles at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant unharmed after eating fish with hook attached to it
There was quite a scare in the bald eagle nest at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant in West Mifflin when fishing tackle ended up in a meal for the majestic birds. The moment was captured on one of PixCam's live webcam, and a local wildlife rehabilitator is highlighting how harmful and even deadly fishing gear can be for birds. Bald eagle nest scare On Tuesday morning, Irvin the eagle brought a fish with a fishing line and a hook attached to it to the nest. Irvin and fledgling eagle Ocho began to eat the fish. "My heart was in my throat when I saw that there was fishing line and all of that in the meal that he was delivering, and holy cow, bless his heart for getting that away from Ocho. And at one point, Ocho even had some line he was starting to swallow," said Carol Holmgren, executive director and wildlife rehabilitator at the Tamarack Wildlife Center. Holmgren said it's a big sigh of relief that a disaster was averted. However, this isn't the first time this has happened to U.S. Steel eagles in West Mifflin. Last year, Lucky the eaglet got tangled in a fishing line, and Claire freed the little one from the line. And in 2023, eaglet Hop pulled out a huge hook from a fish. Both incidents were captured on camera. Holmgren has seen the dangers up close. She said fishing tackle can cause entanglement or swallowing injuries. "A year ago, we treated a loon, a common loon, that on X-ray had ingested a fishing hook and that was caught in her digestive tract, and the line was still coming out her throat. Fortunately, we could have surgery, and she successfully came through surgery and was released," she said. Some birds aren't so lucky. "We did have a heartbreaker about 10 years ago that actually was with an eaglet, a little bird that had not even hatched out of the nest," Holmgren said. "X-rays showed that he had that hook caught in his digestive tract. We did arrange for surgery, but unfortunately, the damage was just too great." Holmgren wants this recent scare for Irvin and Ocho to be a learning experience for anglers. "If you personally have line that's gotten entangled on shore, or fishing hooks and lures and things, clean it up. And if you've got some time to clean up something that somebody else has left, boy, that makes a difference," she said. She also urges fishing enthusiasts to be mindful of the tackle they use. "Avoid things that are containing lead, either lead sinkers or fishing tackle, can really help, because we do also see lead poisoning in some of our fish-eating birds," said Holmgren.
CBS News
19-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
U.S. Steel eaglet Ocho accidentally fledges the nest
Ocho, the U.S. Steel eaglet, has fledged the nest. Well ... kind of. Ocho left the nest at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant in West Mifflin on Tuesday night, but instead of gracefully soaring to the skies, the young eagle tumbled off a branch and fell into the tree below. In a video from PixCams, which runs the livestream of the nest, Ocho is seen standing on a branch before the eaglet raises its wings, steps forward and falls, taking part of the nest down with it. PixCams has been able to spot Ocho, writing on Facebook, "Ocho looks to be in fine condition so no need to worry!" Before the accidental fledge, Ocho has been spending time branching, preparing for flight. PixCams has since posted several videos of Ocho perched on a branch below the nest. It's not clear what's next in Ocho's out-of-nest adventure, but viewers can watch online to find out. (Photo: PixCams/YouTube) The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania says eagles in the area usually leave the nest mid-summer and keep returning until their parents kick them out. While it's the sixth season for dad Irvin at the nest, mom Stella replaced Claire, who left the nest late last year. Irvin and Stella laid three eggs, but only Ocho hatched in March. The appropriately-named Ocho is the eighth eaglet to hatch at the U.S. Steel nest. The nest was built along the Monongahela River in 2019, and a wildlife camera has been livestreaming the family since 2021. Pittsburgh's eagle nesting season has been full of ups and downs this year. Usually bird watchers also have their eyes on the Hays eagle nest, but it collapsed during a storm last summer and the birds didn't rebuild in the same spot. However, trail photographers later found the eagles upstream across the river, and not only had they built another nest, but they had also hatched two eaglets. The hope is that PixCams can get another camera up there so Pittsburghers can keep up with the newly-renamed Glen Hazel eagles next year.
