WASHINGTON — The Keystone XL pipeline won’t be required to use American-made steel to earn construction approval from the Trump administration, the White House said Friday, despite President Trump’s repeated claims.

The president’s executive order mandating the use of U.S. steel is “specific to new pipelines or those that are being repaired,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.

“Since this one is already current, under construction, the steel is already literally sitting there, it would be hard to go back,” she said.

That’s welcome news to TransCanada Corp. as its moves forward with the $8 billion project. The pipeline would span 1,179 miles from Alberta through three states – Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska – before connecting to an existing network feeding crude to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. The line would carry as much as 830,000 barrels of oil a day, including some from North Dakota’s Bakken shale.

In 2012, the company said it expected half of the 821,000 tons of steel needed to construct the pipeline to be produced in the United States. The rest was expected to be imported from Canada, Italy, and India.

But exempting Keystone XL from the president’s requirement to use American steel would seem to fly in the face of Trump’s public comments. Trump has repeatedly boasted that he forced pipeline companies to agree to use U.S. steel in their projects.

Advertisement

During a meeting Feb. 23 with manufacturing CEOs at the White House, Trump told U.S. Steel Corp chief executive Mario Longhi that “the pipe is coming from the U.S.” for the Keystone project, and for Energy Transfer Partners LP’s Dakota Access pipeline.

“We put you heavy into the pipeline business because we approved, as you know, the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota,” Trump told Longhi. “But they have to buy – meaning, steel, so I’ll say U.S. Steel – but steel made in this country and pipelines made in this country.”

During a news conference Feb. 16, the president said that in exchange for using “the powers of government to make that pipeline happen,” administration officials “want them to use American steel.”

“And they’re willing to do that, but nobody ever asked before I came along,” he said.

He repeated the claim a day later, during a tour of a Boeing Co. plant in South Carolina.

“You probably saw the Keystone pipeline I approved recently, and the Dakota,” Trump said. “And I’m getting ready to sign the bill. I said, where is the pipe made? And they told me not here. I said, that’s good – add a little sentence that you have to buy American steel. And you know what? That’s the way it is. It’s the way it’s going to be.”

Advertisement

Trump told a similar story later that weekend, at a rally Feb. 18 in Melbourne, Fla.

Noting that he had moved to “begin the construction” of the Keystone and Dakota projects, Trump said that as he was about to sign the order, he asked who would be manufacturing the pipe.

“Something this audience understands very well, right?” Trump said. “Simple question. The lawyers put this very complex document in front. I said, who makes the pipe? They said, sir, it can be made anywhere. I said, not anymore. So I put a little clause on the bottom: The pipe has to be made in the United States of America if we’re going to have pipelines.”

A White House official who would discuss the pipeline issue only on the condition of anonymity said the Commerce Department is working on a plan for the president’s order requiring U.S. steel, so the administration can’t implement it until that effort is complete. Moreover, the official said, because the Keystone XL pipeline is under construction it does not count as a new, retrofitted, repaired or expanded pipeline.

Asked about the issue, TransCanada issued a statement saying it continues “to be encouraged as our presidential permit application makes its way through the approval process.”

“This project will support U.S. energy security, create thousands of well-paying U.S. jobs and provide substantial economic benefits,” the company said.

Canada’s U.S. ambassador, David MacNaughton, said Friday in an interview that negotiations on Keystone’s route are going “extremely well” with federal authorities and “I don’t see any big hurdles” from the Trump administration. He called the outlook for the project “very positive.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: