on second thought
Trump promised the Keystone pipeline would be made with American steel. Now it's exempt from the rule.
Just eight days ago, President Trump vowed to United States Steel CEO Mario Longhi that the Keystone XL pipeline would be constructed from "steel made in this country and pipelines made in this county." By Tuesday, Trump had changed the rhetoric in his address to a joint session of Congress to specify that "new" American pipelines would "be made with American steel."
As it turns out, following pressure from the Keystone XL's developer, TransCanada, the White House has announced that the Keystone pipeline is exempt from the "buy American" policy, Politico reports. "Removing the steel condition could help persuade TransCanada to fully drop the $15 billion NAFTA complaint against the U.S., which it suspended earlier this week," Politico adds.
Keystone XL is excluded from an order signed by Trump calling for "all new pipelines, as well as retrofitted, repaired, or expanded pipelines" inside the U.S. to use U.S. steel "to the maximum extent possible" because "the Keystone XL pipeline is currently in the process of being constructed, so it does not count as a new, retrofitted, repaired, or expanded pipeline," a White House spokeswoman said.