BOSTON - Steel fabricators, led by the Steel Fabricators of New England, gathered on June 17 to urge legislators to push Massachusetts Buy America requirements across the finish line.

Massachusetts Senate Bill 2167 and House Bill 3411 would require publicly funded construction projects in Massachusetts using fabricated structural steel to source steel from domestic fabricators.

“Buy America provisions are about more than procurement policy,” said James McBrady, owner of James A. McBrady, Inc. (a three-generation steel fabrication company) and president of the Steel Fabricators of New England. “They are about reinvesting state funds back into the local economy. They help create and sustain skilled manufacturing jobs, strengthen regional supply chains, and preserve the industrial capacity we rely on to build safe, durable schools, hospitals, bridges, and public infrastructure.”

If the legislation passes, Massachusetts will join a growing trend. More than 20 other states either already have Buy America laws in place to incentivize investment in American manufacturing and maximize American jobs in the iron and steel industries or have legislation in the works.

This issue is particularly relevant in New England, where an influx of imported, subsidized fabricated structural steel has led to dozens of company closures and hundreds of lost jobs over the last four decades. In nearby states with Buy America legislation, such as New Hampshire and New York, the requirements have not increased costs.

“Today, with the 40% difference between the U.S. and Canadian dollar, Canada can bid a job below our cost and still make a profit,” said Stephen Chasse, president of SL Chasse Steel. “All that money goes back to Canada to be spent in their economy—not ours.”

American Institute of Steel Construction Senior Vice President Scott Melnick noted that at least $200 million of Canadian fabricated steel entered the U.S. last year—work that could have supported more than 500 American steelworkers. “Public policy should be deliberate in raising up and supporting those tax-paying constituents, improving their quality of life, and expanding the tax base in a self-reinforcing cycle of American prosperity,” he said.

Chasse noted that his company’s fabricated steel has contributed more than $1.5 million to the Massachusetts economy from sales tax during the last three years, along with more than $100,000 in state income tax from Massachusetts residents who work at SL Chasse Steel.

“Free trade must be fair trade,” said Hollie Noveletsky, second-generation owner and CEO of Novel Iron Works. “Here in Massachusetts, foreign fabricators are free to bid and take work away from American fabricators who employ Massachusetts residents and support Massachusetts families and communities.”

Those lost jobs have a larger impact on the economy—in fact, the American Institute of Steel Construction estimates that the creation of a single steel job supports roughly 3.4 additional jobs, with around a 150% return on every public construction dollar spent locally. Instead, that money is leaving the American economy entirely as foreign fabricators take on public projects.

With more than $1.3 billion earmarked for structural steel in the $17.2 billion in public projects underway in Massachusetts, that would add up fast.

For more information contact:

Dani Friedland

Director of Communications

773.636.8535

[email protected]

About the American Institute of Steel Construction

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), a not-for-profit technical institute supported by the steel industry, partners with the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) community to develop safe and efficient steel specifications and codes while driving innovation to make steel the most sustainable, economic, and resilient structural material. For more than a century, AISC has been a reliable resource for information and advice on the design and construction of domestically fabricated structural steel buildings and bridges.

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