Since 2023, a major American steelmaker had sought approval from the United States government of an investment proposal to partner with Japan’s largest steelmaker. The deal would provide billions of dollars and new technology to revitalize U.S.-based facilities in several states, included strong protections for domestic steel production and jobs and boasted broad support from rank-and-file American steelworkers in mills across the country.
By early 2025, the deal was still on hold and in serious jeopardy. Leaders in both parties were openly skeptical about an American company partnering with a foreign business. In January, during President Biden’s final weeks in office, he attempted to formally block the merger on national security grounds. If the new administration did not change course and approve the deal by a June deadline, it would be canceled permanently, and President-elect Trump had signaled opposition to the deal as a candidate on the campaign trail.
In early 2025, PLUS was brought on to help navigate a changing political landscape ushered in after the elections and under new leadership in the nation’s capital. This included establishing a new coalition – the America First Steel Alliance – that would help change the narrative in Washington, D.C. surrounding the deal and urged approval of the historic investment that aligned with his vision of a new golden age of American manufacturing and steel production.
Operating on various fronts, PLUS worked to develop the coalition’s high-impact messaging highlighting how this historic investment would not only strengthen the nation’s domestic steel industry, but also reinvigorate communities across America’s heartland, bolster national security and level the playing field for American steelworkers to outcompete China’s unfair trade practices.
Separately, PLUS developed a robust cable, digital and influencer advertising strategy for the American First Steel Alliance that ensured the independent, yet allied messaging broke through and resonated in key states that stood to benefit from the partnership and reshaped the broader national discourse around the deal. Beltway advertising was complemented by precision digital buys, creating a surround-sound effect that kept the coalition’s messaging front and center with the Trump Administration, particularly economic and national security advisers.
PLUS also built, executed and managed a multi-state field program on behalf of the coalition to showcase local benefits of the potential deal and the real-world costs to communities, steelworkers and families had it not been approved. The actions undertaken involved robust stakeholder engagement, direct intercepts with lawmakers and earned media. Through the coalition’s efforts, PLUS ensured that key decision makers were hearing and seeing the substantial support for the proposed deal and that false narratives and misinformation spread by the deal’s opponents did not go unanswered.
Finally, amid a complex project landscape involving numerous stakeholders and advisory firms, PLUS served as the central clearinghouse that relayed the most time-sensitive updates and counsel to the broader project team. This battle-tested, campaign-style coordination ensured alignment on messaging and strategy across components, including government relations efforts, public affairs and communications firms and other outside advisors.
Watch our advertising and videos from the campaign:
America First Steel Alliance:
In late May, following several months of targeted advertising, creation of tailored collateral for key internal and external audiences, the publication of more than 20 earned media pieces across four states and more than 100 direct intercepts of influential targets, the Trump Administration announced full-throated support for the proposed partnership at a historic steel facility in Pennsylvania.
The narrative and sustained drumbeat of support for the America First benefits of the partnership – driven by the coalition’s efforts – reinforced alignment with the executive branch’s priorities throughout the deal’s ongoing negotiations.
Through our work with the America First Steel Alliance, PLUS reshaped the national conversation around the partnership’s economic, national security and industrial importance, ultimately contributing to the public and political dialogue that paved the way for the deal’s approval and strengthening the future of American steelmaking and manufacturing for decades to come.
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