This is a great day for us here in Coatesville for Cleveland-Cliffs, because we have the opportunity, we had the opportunity to demonstrate to these two, actually three, including Congresswoman Houlahan, but two members of the Biden-Harris administration, where the result of the bipartisan, it's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, and all these good things that happened in the last three and a half years. How we can translate that into progress for communities, good-paying union, middle-class jobs, and the future of this country. That more than any time before, is under attack from the outside and from the inside. We need to understand how things go and not to make mistakes that we made in the past, to allow for the easy buck to destroy the way of living of people and communities, particularly here in the Midwest. We are trying to bring back, 'cause we're trying to bring back manufacturing and doing things that are really important for the country. So, it's a great day for us. These are people in power that really understand what this country is about and what the people of the country really need. So, for us to be able to host them here today is a great, great pleasure and a great honor to have you here. With that, I would like to ask Bernie Hall to say some words for us. Thank you. We're gonna do for there, or we wanna do it at the podium? Microphone here is for- Thank you. Thank you, Lourenco and thank you to the entire Cleveland-Cliffs team for hosting us here today. And I am especially appreciative of Ambassador Tai, Secretary Su, and Representative Houlahan for joining us today at the Coatesville Mill. This mill has been a foundation for the community for over two hundred years, and the union members here melt and pour some of the most advanced and technical steels in the world. For five generations, USW members like Fred Grumbine, Brandon Davies, Stacy Jones, and so many others, have provided not just high-strength steel plate, but an economic engine for the 13,000 people in Coatesville and the surrounding Chester County. Our members here take pride in a steel plate that goes into the most sophisticated naval vessels on the planet. But it's much more than that. It's about working on the steel that replaced the collapsed I-95 bridge in Philadelphia, or onshore, offshore wind turbines, or the infrastructure that builds this country. We have had five generations of steelworkers that have worked in this plant. These aren't normal jobs. These are real, good-paying, family-sustaining jobs. Jobs that you can buy a home with, send your children to school or raise a family. And we wanna thank you all for being here today and for the policies of this administration, like the Inflation Reduction Act or the Infrastructure Act, that make jobs like this possible, and for committed to trade policies that put workers first. So thank you, and I look forward to hearing some more from you today in your comments. Thank you. The format of this event here will be more of a fireside chat to give these three ladies, these very important people in our country, the opportunity to express their views and to share with us what has been done in the last three and a half years, and what we really expect would happen in the next four. So, as Ambassador Tai, Secretary Su, Congresswoman Houlahan, as you have witnessed today, Cleveland-Cliffs Coatesville plays a direct role in supporting our U.S. military. More broadly, steel plate from this mill serves in several different critical infrastructure sectors, including clean energy, telecommunications, onshore, offshore energy, wind, road and bridge construction. I would like to hear from you, and I would like you to comment the importance that President Biden's administration assigns to sectors such as steel, that directly support both U.S. national security and our country's economic security. Please, Ambassador Tai, starting with you. Thank you so much, Lourenco, and thank you, Bernie. Thank you, Congresswoman, and all of you for this incredibly warm welcome in Coatesville today. Steel is the backbone of the modern economy. We were talking a little bit about this earlier, that, as much as our imaginations may be captured by things in the digital and the virtual world, where there's a lot that you can see, but you can't feel or touch, that we're still flesh and blood people that live in a brick-and-mortar world, that is powered by and raised up by steel. What we've seen today reinforces for me how critical steel is to our everyday lives as a product. But more than that, the reason why this industry is so important to our country is its criticality to our lifeblood, the lifeblood of our economy, to creating jobs, and not just any jobs, which is why I'm so privileged to be here with Secretary Su today. It's about the quality of the jobs, whether or not those are jobs that lead to a path in the middle class for generations, as you noted, Lourenco. The criticality of an industry like steel to the community, which is why, Congresswoman Houlahan, I'm so privileged to be hosted by you today. In addition to spending time here this morning, we're also going to be visiting a small business incubator and also a brand-new grocery store that's come to Coatesville very recently to feed this community. Of course, Bernie, so privileged to have you here to help us fill out our understanding of why this industry is important to America, to small-town America, to America writ large in terms of our economy, and America's place in the global order in terms of our alliances. Our allies need for us to be strong. Not just militarily. They need us to be economically vibrant, so that the United States and our people have the confidence in ourselves and in our future to be that ballast, to be that pro-democracy, pro-international rules, pro-opportunity ballast for not just ourselves, but for the entire world. So, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here, to see how worker centrism in trade, finally aligning our trade policies with our investment policies, our labor policies, listening to the voices of our communities, to see the progress that we are making. And to be clear, I see the progress, but I also know that there is so much more progress we need to make, and it's really going to be in partnership and collaboration with those who are here in the room today, that we're going to be able to accomplish that. Very good. Thank you so much. Secretary Su, please. I look out, and I'm also just so proud to be here. We were talking as we were walking through this, you know, Cliffs, the steelworkers, you know, you all have built this community for generations, and you are rightfully proud of what you do here, what you contribute, and what it means for our country. So, we come, you know, really to share in that pride and let you know that we, in this administration, see you and and appreciate all that you do. I'll just add one thing to what the ambassador's already said, in addition to the thanks to you, Lourenco, for your being such a gracious and generous host. You know, I know it takes a lot to stop doing what you normally do in order to give us time to be here with you, so we really appreciate that. The Congresswoman, we couldn't do much of what we do, especially with our investments, without you fighting in Congress, and we know it's a fight to make sure that we continue to invest in America. To the steelworkers and Bernie, you know, I am proud to be the Labor Secretary for the most pro-worker, pro-union administration this country has ever seen, and that's not just a slogan. That is a promise. My work, the ambassador's work is so. You know, it's so key to that because we know that when we invest in America, we create demand for things, demand for steel. When we make sure that those things are made in America, then we also ensure keeping the good jobs that we have but also expanding on them. This administration has seen over 16 million jobs created in this country since the president and the vice president came into office. That's the most jobs under any president and vice president in that same time period in history, so you saying that what we're doing is a game changer, you know, is true, and the ambassador's right, we have more work to do, but we cannot build the economy that we want if we don't prioritize union work. You know, we know if you want the job done right, you also need union workers to do it. So if we don't prioritize union jobs, expanding those union jobs, and making sure that in everything that we do, from domestic investments to the trade policies that our ambassador is so fearlessly leading, that if we don't make sure that those contribute to maintaining those jobs and advancing the well-being of working people, then we can't have the economy that we want and we need. Absolutely. Congresswoman. So, I don't wanna take very much time, other than to say I'm enormously grateful for you all spending time here in our community. I am enormously proud of Coatesville and the Coatesville community and the steel heritage that we have here of five generations worth of men and women, who have put their lives and heart and soul into this industry. And what I would emphasize in the military parlance with foot stomp, is how important it is that the work that you guys do to our national security and to our stability in the world. The work that you're doing, even though some of it is going to go into submarines and aircraft carriers and a variety of other different defense mechanisms, much of it is also going into our economy as well, whether with renewable energies or with our bridges and rails and those kinds of industrial efforts. All of that allows us to be the strong nation that we are, to stand on this stage as a, as a world leader, as the world leader for democracies around the world, and so I would just want to emphasize how proud I am to be able to represent you down in Washington. You are, in our community, a gem of our community. It's my privilege when I get to visit here. This is, I think, my third or fourth time having the opportunity to tour the facility, and it astounds me every single time I'm here, the magnitude of the things that you are able to accomplish. I just also wanna end by concluding how proud I am as well, that all of this work is union work, and that all of this work are proud union workers who are doing what amounts to representing this nation with the products that you provide. So, what I would say that the administration has done, to answer your question, is all of the things that were outlined before. The Inflation Reduction Act, which is about half of it about reducing prescription drug pricing and medical expenses, but the other half is about making sure that we have the technologies of tomorrow to be able to power our economy in all ways, shapes, and forms. We talked about the Infrastructure and Jobs Act. Pennsylvania, I think, is number three in the country in terms of the number of bridges that we have. We need to fix our bridges, and steel is required to do those kinds of things. We talked a little bit about the CHIPS and Science Act. The CHIPS and Science Act is bringing hydrogen power to our community, which is very much part of the manufacturing process that we need. And all of those kinds of things are the things that this administration, that this, the Congress of hundred and eighteenth Congress, hundred and seventeenth, to be specific, have brought to the community. Generation-changing pieces of legislation that are bringing tens of millions of dollars to our community. I'll end by saying that some of the technologies that I just saw, inclusive of the crane flip, the thing that flips the steel, came from the CARES Act, a piece of legislation that was passed that provided almost $60 million to this facility, which I'm very, very proud to have been able to help bring here. Thanks very much for having me again. Thank you. Look, at all these pieces of legislation that we are talking here, they happen because there is political resolve and because we have the people behind and the support of the people for these things. But we are very, very concerned about the long-term viability of these things. We are under attack from several fronts. Of course, we have China. Of course, we have Mexico that's next door, creating a backdoor for us to complicate our life in terms of trade. So, I would like to ask a question that could be slightly uncomfortable to answer, but it's necessary. How do we ensure continued focus on these issues for the long term, so that communities like Coatesville and countless others throughout the country, but particularly here in the Midwest, that rely on manufacturing, continue to benefit? Lourenco, that's such an important question. We've been involved in a version of globalization for a long time now. That has been about minimizing costs, cutting costs everywhere, right? In order to, I guess, maximize profits. We talked a little bit about shareholders and how shareholders drive so much of what happens in the economy and decision-making by a lot of our companies. One of the important things to realize is that calculus around costs has been really, really narrow. We have ignored the larger costs that America, Americans, American communities have borne over time because of a large number of economic policies, with trade policy leading the way, right? We have been doing trade in a way with others that has continually pitted Americans against Americans, our farmers against our industries. It has pitted our middle class against the middle class of other countries. It's pitted our workers against other people's workers, and this has led to that famous race to the bottom, where it feels like things are hard for an industry like the steel industry to continue manufacturing here in America. It's because this is the fight. This is what we've been up against, right? So, what we are trying to do with the worker-centered trade policy is to flip the script. Now, this is a script that's been prevalent for a very, very long time now, so it's going to take all of us pulling in the same direction. But it's about driving the race to the top, because it turns out, in all those international conversations I've been in, everybody is trying to build their middle class. There's got to be a way where we can be building our middle classes together, where instead of pitting our workers against each other, we can be thinking about how to strengthen our workers together. I feel strongly that an important part of this conversation is through a pathway to thinking about our industries differently. Instead of pitting them against each other, how can we be building our industries together? How can we be thinking about more win-win solutions? That's really reorienting us to thinking about industrial policy in a new way. Industrial policy that's not just about enriching us and making others poorer, but an industrial policy that's collaborative, where we can be strengthening our industries and doing it in a complementary way to allow for our middle classes to grow together. It seems like a very tall order. I promise you, if human beings can figure out how to send people, other human beings, out into space to land on the moon, this is a small challenge by comparison. The only difference is that we've never asked ourselves how we're going to do this, and we are starting to do that, and it is going to take more time. But it's going to take a commitment to thinking about: How do we negotiate trade agreements that don't bleed out entire industries and leave communities suffering and without hope? Because the fact that Coatesville is still here and is still making steel today in twenty twenty-four, I know that you have scars from the fights- Oh, yeah. To stay operational and to keep this community afloat. We are all engaged in those kinds of fights, and we have to keep fighting to change that conversation. I've heard every single one of you say this, and I just want to reinforce that the overall feeling I have from this morning is a very deep sense of pride... pride in being an American, pride in seeing what all of you produce here, pride in imagining how these giant slabs of steel are incorporated into enormous accomplishments of our industrial progress, and how we're going to keep doing that. Pride in the family connectivity. Lourenco, you and your family are invested in this, in this company. Yeah. But the steelworkers, the multi-generational, working alongside your family, having the skills and the expertise passed down from generation to generation, this is well worth our fighting for. And so whether that comes in the form of new types of trade agreements that are going to produce new types of outcomes, to the strategic, smart, defensive use of tariffs. I'm gonna say it because, as the trade representative, we think about tariffs every single day. And I know that tariffs have taken on this kind of cultural currency. People feel strong feelings about them. I'm just gonna say here to this crowd, the company, and the workers, you understand better than anybody how tariffs can be used constructively to level the playing field, to give all of us a fighting chance, and also how tariffs can be used recklessly. And it is really important. A tariff is just a tool. A tariff is like a slab of steel. You can either put it into a design and architecture to make something powerful and strong that stands tall, or you can use it to create chaos. From our perspective, it is really, really important to bring that sobriety and that commitment to outcomes, and the commitment to the outcome that I think that we have actually, all five of us sitting up here, is to strong industries, strong workers, strong communities, and a strong future for America. So, again, in terms of what we can do, there is so much that we have to do, and there is so much innovation that we need to bring, not just... I know you're doing it in terms of steelmaking, in terms of making it safer, more efficient, more effective, to making stronger steel. We also need innovation in our policies. Yeah. so that our policies deliver more resilient and stronger outcomes. Think of our policies like the steel that we see you making here every single day. If I could add, you know, I think that there's the policy that the members of Congress have the opportunity to sort of weigh in on. You guys get to execute on it and develop it, but when we have something like the Section 301, you know, tariffs, we need to make sure as I have in our office, to empower our administration to continue to think that way. Listen, I serve on the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee. I'm a veteran. I don't think China is our friend. And what China is doing across all industries, but specifically in this industry, is dangerous. And so, I need to use my voice as a member of Congress to be able to articulate that, which I've hopefully done by testifying in front of the Trade Commission, that this, these kinds of Section 301 need to continue. I hope that we've been able to do that by signing on to letters, which sounds sort of interesting. It's a superpower of members of Congress to be able to say, like, "Hey, this is not okay, what's happening with steel and with China and with Mexico." And we need to make sure that that stops. And so combined, I think the people who are on this stage are trying to do the right thing every single day in combating what is really very destructive behavior on the part of China, both for our national security, but also economic security, and make sure that it continues to be held, you know, that the court is continuing to be in our favor. Yeah. That's what we're working on. Secretary Su. I'll just add one more thing, which is that leadership matters, right? So, your question about how do we keep on the right path, leadership matters. You see that here in your company. You see that in the partnerships that you all have built here. You hear that when you hear our ambassador talk about how she goes out and leads in the world, and her point about trade being one part of a holistic approach to building a strong economy and a strong nation, the investments that are happening in this country right now are a part of making sure that everything we do in the rest of the world also, you know, flows to the benefit of the American people. Let's just talk about infrastructure for one moment. You all remember that in the last administration, the president at that time, Donald Trump, promised an infrastructure week that never materialized, right? I mean, we never had infrastructure week. And you all know, a week for infrastructure is not anywhere near enough. We're investing in an infrastructure decade. The other things that both of you have talked about in terms of the legislation, those laws passed without a single Republican vote. The CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, those investments that are rebuilding industry in the United States are happening because there are leaders, like the congresswoman, like our president and our vice president, who understand that we have to have policies, we have to have... that translate into what's good for this industry. And in order to do that, we have to have leadership in place, to do it. And that, you know, the progress that we've made will only continue with leaders who understand how to use the tools that we have in an intelligent, thoughtful way. Absolutely. We need predictability. That's right. We can't be surprised by the unthinkable. That's right. Ambassador Tai said extremely well, tariffs are a tool in the toolbox, but it's a very powerful tool in the toolbox to be used in a way that we can bring back sanity to capitalism. Yeah. Capitalism was not built to make sure that bankers are richer and the population is poorer. Capitalism was a way to make everybody raise together, and the middle class and unions are part of that. Yes. Let's accept that as the truth, and then we'll build from there, and that's what we're trying to do. Because when we put numbers in things, things are not as bad as they look. You look at a ton of steel today, a ton of hot rolled coil, $700. Ten years ago, it was $650, so- Right. We increased $50. In the meantime, the average price of a car was, at that time, $24,000. Now, it's $49,000. So how much steel there is in a car? One ton. So, our contribution was $50 for the price of the car, more than doubling. So, These profits are certainly not going to the people and certainly not going to the steel companies, so we only need to be able to reinvest, to continue to build what we need as a company that exists in the society. Because at the end of the day, everybody we are competing against are building middle classes that are bigger and more powerful than our existing one, and they use as a reference our middle class of 50 or 60 years ago. Another question that I would like to really just to lower the temperature a little bit because it's an interesting point. This company here was founded, and the first CEO was a female. That was in eighteen twenty-five. That's one hundred and ninety-nine years ago, so that's a lot of time ago. Rebecca Lukens. Our three panelists here, Congresswoman Houlahan, Secretary Su, and Ambassador Tai are also trailblazing women. Congresswoman Houlahan was the first female representative from this congressional district. Ambassador Tai and Acting Secretary Su are the first women of color to lead their respective agencies, the USTR and the Labor Department. And by the way, look at our people. We understand a little bit about diversity. So how many females, African Americans, Native Americans, we have everybody here. We are a good picture of what the United States of America really is. I would like to hear from you; how do you bring this unique perspective to work every day serving the American people? Let me work with you. Start with you, Congresswoman. So, down in Washington, as I mentioned earlier, I'm a veteran, and there's actually only about 20% of the Congress are veterans, and it used to be as high as 70%. And so, I'm kind of unique in that way. There's only a handful of women who have worn the uniform who are active in Congress right now, and so I feel sort of special in that way, too. But importantly, there's a lot of other things that I bring to work that are unique and I think important. I'm an engineer, and there's only about two dozen engineers or STEM professionals in Congress right now, and we need more. We need more people with technical backgrounds and understanding. I'm a chemistry teacher. I worked in- Me too. I started my career teaching chemistry. You know, we need more educators in places like Washington, and I guess my point is, Rebecca Lukens was a badass. Clearly was ahead of her time and a woman with a vision and a purpose. But what we need is diversity of all forms in all places. I think that by being able to bring your whole self to work wherever work is, and to be able to add all of that flavor that comes from your background, I think that's what makes this country powerful. My dad came here as a five-year-old from Ukraine. He was born in what was Poland, and it is now Ukraine. One generation later, I get to sit here as a member of Congress, as the first woman serving in Congress in my district, and that's the power of this nation. I'm grateful for being here. Rebecca Lukens, amazing woman, who also is a chemistry teacher, apparently. Really? Wow! Yes. Yes. Wow. Wow. Secretary Su. I appreciate you all welcoming me here, and I hope I won't get kicked out for saying I was terrible in chemistry. It's very, very exciting to be- It's like, it's love or hate. Yeah. You gotta have a good teacher, you know? But I, you know, I love hearing that story. You know, I love. You know, USW understands the importance that, you know, the women of steel. Stacy, where are you? Stacy, and the, you know, unions know, right, that when you open your doors up to be truly inclusive, that's how you build the strongest organizations- Yeah ... that you need. And, I mean, you know, to be honest, President Biden came into office saying he wanted to build a cabinet that looked like America, and he understood that, by doing so, it didn't mean that you bring in people who aren't qualified for jobs in- Yes ... in the name of diversity. It means that when you actually open up your perspective to reach into communities that might not be your natural community, that might not be the people that you knew, you know, your whole life, that you open it up, that you bring in true excellence and talent, that we have across this country. And I'm, you know, been just, you know, obviously very proud to serve alongside the ambassador and a cabinet that can bring in perspectives from various communities. And especially, you know, one of the things that I get to say in this administration is I mentioned before, and you've all heard the president say, that he's proud about building the most pro-worker, pro-union administration. The other thing that having a diverse cabinet allows is for everyone to be able to figure out how, in each of our areas, do we inject that worker perspective? How do we all prioritize what's good for workers, and how do we build a, you know, stronger unions in every single cabinet agency? I think that's a really, you know, kind of amazing, commitment, but also, you know, very fundamental, to the way that, that this administration leads. Absolutely. Ambassador Tai, please. Yes, well, I'm really privileged to be surrounded by so many technical experts here, and I think that there are actually quite a few lawyers here today. My mother has said, "You know, what will really make America great is," I'm gonna get in trouble for saying this, but "more engineers and technical experts in leadership positions. I think there are too many lawyers, too many lawyers right now," so Julie, you and I are part of the too many lawyers problem, but it is about people with a background and who know how to make things, who know how to work together on teams, which lawyers do, too, but it's just different. Something that Secretary Su has really taught me is how to think about building teams, because the administration, the cabinet is a team. When I look out here, what your ability to produce this kind of steel to these specifications requires an incredibly high level of teamwork and functionality. And so, what I see here actually is a commitment to excellence and your commitment to welcoming excellence in, no matter what package it comes in, if it looks like this or this or this or any of you. And it's that commitment to excellence that I think is really, really important. It's about the commitment to excellence and a unity of vision. I will just tell you this. I see parallels in our worlds. In almost every administration, going back through time, USTR and the Department of Labor are at loggerheads. There's usually one that's more pro-worker than the other one, and it can flip. In this administration, I think one of the things that I feel very, very lucky about is working alongside Julie Su, and having this unity of vision. That doesn't mean we agree on everything, in fact, there are times when we really have to duke it out in some really technical areas, like a couple of lawyers. But that unity of vision is incredibly important, and I just want to let you know that it's rare. Similarly, for labor and management, to have the kind of relationship that you have here at Cliffs and at this facility, I think is also unusual, and I feel like is a little bit of a parallel. You're not gonna agree on everything, but if you, if you are working towards overall the same objective, which is the strength of the industry, the strength of the ability to produce and to have good jobs here... Now, you look at the five of us, because there's also the congressional and executive alignment, too. You look at the five of us up here, and what you really have is a unity of vision around this industry, around where the direction that we want our economy to go, and I just want to say it's rare that you have this kind of constellation, and it's extremely special, and when brought together, it can be extremely powerful. Absolutely, and, your point is extremely well taken. It's very easy to go back to the default position of repeating the same thing over and over again. It will be a lot easier for Bernie and for my dear friend, Dave McCall, to be antagonistic to Cleveland-Cliffs, because that would give them an easy speech, an easy way out of a bunch of situations that Dave and his predecessor, my dear friend, Tom Conway, had to go through, and Bernie and Mike Millsap and Roy Houseman and Roxy Brown and everybody else in the USW. It's the same thing with the UAW, the same thing with the IAM. These folks would be probably, I'm not speaking for them, but it would be a lot easier for them to be against Cleveland-Cliffs. They're working together with Cleveland-Cliffs means a lot to me, what the union, the USW, is doing, because it's confirmation that what we are doing at Cleveland-Cliffs is resonating with the workers. It's the same thing with President Joe Biden. When he says, "I have your back," I believe it, that he has our back. He has the back of the workers. I believe it, because I can take a man like him for his word. He's trustworthy. And his vice president, Kamala Harris, is coming on the same track, and she's doing the same things and delivering the same messages. This is a cabinet that for three and a half years, I have been working with them, with, with these two great ladies here to my right side, and Secretary Gina Raimondo of Commerce, Secretary Jennifer Granholm of Energy. These are hardworking people for the people of the United States, and these things matter. All women. And they don't want... I'm sorry? All women. Except for you. All women. Yeah, yeah, I just noticed that. By the way, that's another thing about diversity and inclusion here. Even though we have it, it's not a goal in itself. That's right. We don't have roundtables. We don't do fireside chats about diversity. It is what it is, because we reward talent, and talent is everywhere. Yeah. We just don't put any barriers to that. Yeah. But anyway, I just would like to emphasize that. By the same token that the union does that, I am not ashamed to say my priority is the workers, and this is being televised live on our YouTube channel, so there's no going back on these words, but that's the way I talk all the time. You wanna be a shareholder of Cleveland-Cliffs? I can give you a ride, and you can enjoy profits, and you can enjoy a lot of good things. Yeah. But you need to understand, we are a different company. We are for the workers, because if we are for the workers, we are for the communities, and with the being for the communities, we can build a middle class and a economic sustainability that's real- Right ... and it's not for a shorter period of time. That's right. That's what we want going forward. Yeah, yeah. One last question that I would like to have our distinguished panelists talking about, because sometimes we talk about a few things over and over, and we don't talk about other stuff that might be relevant. As President Biden nears the end of his term, Americans remain concerned about the economy, despite real achievements on manufacturing, labor, trade enforcement. I would like you to talk about, a little bit, your favorite unknown or unrecognized economic victory of the past four years. Great. I'm happy to start. Please. I've been serving this community now for about almost six years, and I had the privilege of watching the evolution of this space, being here several times over several administrations, so to speak, of this organization, and I see the difference in attitude on the same faces that I saw five and six years ago. This place has changed. Your spirit is soaring. We know we're heading in the right direction, and same with Coatesville. I see that, too. After we're done here, we're going to be going to an incubator. There are so many new ideas that have come up. Frankly, after COVID, there was just this mushrooming, blossoming of ideas, lots of new people with side hustles and hustles that I think are really flourishing. Looking at our downtown in Coatesville, we're making progress. We have, as we're also going to do, visiting a new store, a new grocery store that didn't exist before. So my feeling is just looking at this community. If I just look at this community, I see the progress. One of my district director's sons just bought a house in Coatesville. Like, it is on the rise, and we all know it. And so that's my good story, my good news story. That's great. Thank you for that. Secretary, please. Maybe I'll build on that, too. I think, you know, when you say unrecognized good stories, I get to travel the country and come to places like this and meet people who are doing a hard job but a good, honest living, making a good, honest living. And I see in those communities, people are, you know, proud of what you do, are in all kinds of ways supporting each other, making life better for each other, you know, working in your communities and raising your families. And, you know, when you come to Pennsylvania, and you turn on the news, this is not just in this state, but there are a few of them around the country right now. If you just watch the news, it's, like, so much noise and so much acrimony. But what I see when I sit down with communities is people, you know, just wanting a fair shot and, really proud to be part of an administration that is trying to expand that fair shot, right? Like, Lourenco you said when we sat down, there is a gap between the production of steel and the consumption of steel in this country, and we are very committed to making sure that that production grows here. Yes. That translates into the kinds of jobs, the kinds of communities that we're talking about. Totally. And so, yeah, that's the fair shot idea, right? And I... It makes me really, you know, like I... You know, people ask me all the time, like, why I have so much energy for this job when it is also really hard, and sometimes it's hard to measure the progress that we've made, but it's because of those kinds of interactions. And truly, in part, because of this administration's support, we now have in this country four hundred thousand working people who are part of unions, who were not part of unions when we came into office. Four hundred thousand people, including members of the steelworkers' family, in parts of the country where people thought that unions are hard. It is hard, but lifting people up and seeing, you know, what happens when they get a fair shot is always really, really heartwarming. We'll continue to try to prove that- I see that. We can work together. I see that in you, so thank you so much- Thank you. for doing that. Ambassador Tai- Yes. The last word is yours. Oh, goodness! Thank you. Thank you. So, this is a hard audience for this particular unsung victory, but I wanna have the chance to pitch you on it and explain to you why I think that this is really important. In the renegotiated NAFTA, there is one very specific enforcement mechanism that is made for workers. And, in an agreement that carries with it so much burden and baggage in terms of its very powerful impacts on the economies of North America and our economy, we are, for the very first time, flipping the script on what a trade agreement can do, right? So in this agreement, there is a mechanism that's not available anywhere else, it's part of the trade agreement, that is allowing for us to hold accountable corporations that offshore American production, to hold them accountable when they set up shop in Mexico, to abide by the rules that are required by Mexican law and by this new agreement, that they have to respect the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. So, we've invoked this mechanism almost 30 times, sometimes as a result of petitions that have come from American unions, sometimes Mexican unions, sometimes we have invoked it ourselves, working across USTR and DOL. We have, we have directly benefited over 30,000 Mexican workers to allow them to have a free and fair vote for a union that actually represents their interests, to be able to get a collective bargaining agreement, often for the first time, that they have seen, and that they can make sure reflects their interests and not just the company's interest, and we've also secured for them millions of U.S. dollars worth of back pay, better wages, better benefits, so for the first time, a trade agreement is allowing for Mexico's workers also to empower themselves, and we are just beginning to even the playing field in terms of the competition between America's workers and Mexico's workers. This is, this is what we're talking about, about stopping the pitting of workers against each other and actually creating mechanisms that allow for workers to support each other. Now, I know that there are some members of the press who are here today, and I have actually very directly asked them before. This is, this is actually the most consequential, concrete outcome that we have demonstrated around worker centrism and trade. We've flipped the script. Why, why don't we get more play in terms of the narrative out there? It's really important, and some of my friends in the press have told me, "Well," really honestly, and I'm not gonna attribute this, "You, you're not getting more play in the press because it's a positive story." And I, I guess that means it doesn't get a lot of clicks. This is something in our new trade policy that is actually working. Okay, so I'm gonna take it upon myself. I use every opportunity I can to explain what it is we're doing and what's an example of progress that we're making. Another piece of good feedback I got from our friends in the press was, "Well, you know, each time you invoke this mechanism, it's only, it's only the workers at one facility, but there are thousands of facilities in this uneven competition, in this pitting of workers against workers. What you're doing is just a drop in the bucket." And I'll just say this, right? The renegotiated NAFTA, it's not the end-all, be-all. It's not perfect. Is it better in some important ways than what came before? Yes. We have to recognize how it's better so that we can continue the work of evolving our trade policies away from a template that has been incredibly damaging to us and our communities and our industries, but also damaging to our international relations. And so I think that that's the unsung accomplishment that we have had, which is not the end-all, be-all, but it is such an important proof of concept, that you can do trade in a way that lifts up workers and that holds companies accountable, and that in order to, in order to continue on our path, we need for more people to know about the parts that we are accomplishing and the important first steps that we're taking. So, Lourenco, thank you so much for that particular question because it allows me to put in context something we're very proud of, but also to recognize that this is just the beginning, guys, and there's a lot more that we need to do, and the only way we survive and succeed is by doing it together and having that unity of purpose. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our event today. On behalf of Cleveland-Cliffs and on behalf of the workers of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, thank you very much for being here. Thank you. It's a great pleasure to host you. It gives us hope that we are going in the right direction, and we are doing the right things. Thank you. Count on us, and let's continue to work together. Thank you so much. Thanks a lot.