Organization Commends Trump's Call for U.S. Made Pipelines

“We are strongly supportive of the President’s announcement, and we are ready to go to work to make it happen,” said John P. Stupp, Jr., CEO of Stupp Corp., which makes large-diameter line pipe in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Domestic manufacturing of steel pipeline will lead directly to more U.S. jobs and U.S. manufacturing.”

The memorandum, announced on January 24, 2017, requires the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan under which all new, retrofitted, repaired, or expanded pipeline within the United States use materials and equipment produced in the United States, to the maximum extent possible and to the extent permitted by law.  The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to seek public input and comment in the weeks ahead.

“We are committed to working with the steel industry, the pipeline operators, and others to implement the Presidential Memo as intended: protecting and creating good paying jobs in the manufacturing sector while avoiding disruptions in the supply of line pipe.” said Ingo Riemer, President & CEO of Berg Steel Pipe Corp., which manufactures line pipe in Florida and Alabama.

“Using American-made pipe does not just benefit our workers. It benefits the workers and communities of all of the companies in the supply chain to produce our line pipe,” said Jason Norris, president of Dura-Bond Industries, which manufactures in two locations in Pennsylvania. “The positive ripple effects are significant.”

Imports of large-diameter line pipe, often using dumped and subsidized steel, have undercut the U.S. market in recent years, leaving most U.S. producers operating at well below their capacity levels. Stupp Corp., American Steel Pipe, Berg Pipe, and Dura-Bond formed the American Line Pipe Producers Association earlier this year, focused on the large-diameter segment of the market. Combined, the four companies have more than 200 years of experience manufacturing line pipe in the United States and represent the vast majority of large diameter line pipe production and capacity in the United States.