Cliffs CEO touts employee cash bonus for buying US-made vehicles

Included on the list of eligible vehicles are 15 General Motors models, six Toyotas, four Nissans, three Hondas, three Subarus, one Ford, one Hyundai, and Stellantis’ RAM truck. The popular Ford F-150 is not included due to its aluminum body.

All of the nearly 30,000 employees of Cleveland-Cliffs are eligible for the incentive.

Supporting America First agenda

Coinciding with the program’s announcement on Friday, Cliffs Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves hosted US Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) for a press conference at Cliffs’ Cleveland Works sheet plant.

Both speakers stressed the need to rebuild American manufacturing. Cliffs’ initiative supports that. So does President Trump’s economic agenda aimed at bringing manufacturing back to the US, Goncalves said.

“This incentive is a small token of our appreciation for the administration’s ‘America-First’ agenda and serves as recognition that our employees, as American consumers, will help power the resurgence of domestic manufacturing,” he said.

Cliffs hopes the program will encourage other businesses to also promote the consumption of American-made products.

Senator Moreno praised Cliffs for doing its part to help make American manufacturing “great again”. “Thanks to President Trump and bold leadership from industry leaders like Cleveland-Cliffs, American manufacturing is poised to see a boom like never before,” he said.

Goncalves criticized past trade policies that led to offshoring. Bringing production back to the US is crucial for the economy and national security, he said.

“We are ready for the manufacturing revolution that President Trump is bringing,” Goncalves said.

Supporting workers

Goncalves also called for stronger policies to support workers. Moreno agreed, saying policies should prioritize middle-class Americans over multinational corporations.

Goncalves highlighted that Cliffs has maintained employment levels despite a slowdown in production following the idling of its C-6 blast furnace at Cleveland Works last fall.

“I never let any employee go,” he said, even though doing so contributed to a big fourth-quarter loss for the company.

Calling out United Steelworkers Local 989 President Dick Pisgah, who was in the audience, Goncalves said, “We are together on this, and we will continue to grow plants.” Noting the nearly 10,000 Cliffs employees in Indiana and the 6,500 in Ohio, he added, “I want to put new plants, and I want to do it in Ohio.”

The event ended with a push for more action. To encourage the purchase of American vehicles, Moreno said he would introduce a bill in the Senate next week to make auto loan interest tax-deductible for vehicles made in the USA.

About Bernie Moreno

Senator Moreno defeated Democratic incumbent and long-time steel champion Sherrod Brown in the 2024 election.

Moreno moved to Ohio in 2005, where he purchased a car dealership and eventually grew it into a massive dealership group. He later became involved in blockchain technology.

Moreno’s Transportation Freedom Act

Last month, Moreno introduced a bill to provide enhanced wage deductions for automobile manufacturing workers. The Transportation Freedom Act would give auto workers a 200% tax deduction for wages up to $150,000.

The bill also calls for removing of government mandates that Moreno said have raised the price of vehicles. It would end put an end to automobile emissions standards, including CAFE fuel economy standards and the EPA’s ‘tailpipe rule’.

Additionally, it would mandate stable emissions and fuel economy standards from 2027 to 2035, which Moreno said would provide them with policy certainty.

The bill has the support of GM, Stellantis, Toyota, the National Automobile Dealers Association, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, and the American Trucking Associations.

Toyota COO Mark Templin said, in a statement in support of the bill, that shifting emissions regulations have whipsawed the auto industry for decades and driven up the cost of US automobiles. He thinks the senator’s legislation would provide the regulatory predictability needed for automakers to make better investment decisions.