2026年10月3日 / 美国东部时间上午8:29 / 哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻
“停止窃取”（Stop the Steal）——或者说“钢铁”（steel）——对2026年的一些爱荷华州选民而言有了全新含义。
本周五，爱荷华州议会大厦前的抗议者举着写有“不要钢铁窃取！”（No Steel Steal!）的标语，而议员们正赶在单日特别会议上通过一项法案，为李县一座新钢铁厂向美塞比金属公司（Mesabi Metallics）提供为期10年、总计13.6亿美元的税收优惠。美塞比金属公司为印度企业集团Essar集团所有。
爱荷华州众议院以75票赞成、17票反对通过该方案，参议院则以28票赞成、19票反对通过。州长金·雷诺兹（Kim Reynolds）已于本周五晚将其签署为法律。
这一切发生在特朗普总统周一宣布将在美国历史上规模最大的钢铁厂落户爱荷华州之后。特朗普承诺，这座耗资150亿美元的钢铁厂将创造1750个永久性岗位和约6000个建筑岗位。
这一公告让该州许多人感到意外，包括原本需要依靠他们批准税收优惠方案的议员。当美国商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克（Howard Lutnick）周一在白宫对记者表示“交易已敲定”时，爱荷华州的议员们甚至还未收到可供审议的细节信息，也不清楚本周五特别会议的具体安排。
反对这项13.6亿美元激励方案的人士大多支持该项目，但他们希望获得更多保障措施和公共利益担保。按10年期限计算，这项激励方案相当于为每个永久性岗位提供约77.7万美元的税收减免，无论以何种标准衡量都堪称高昂的成本。支持者辩称，这一计算方式未将约6000个建筑岗位纳入其中——但反对者指出，这些岗位均为临时性岗位。
在爱荷华州许多农民正陷入困境之际，将逾10亿美元的税收减免给予一家印度企业集团，对部分选民来说难以接受。
（左起）美塞比金属公司总裁兼首席执行官乔·布罗金（Joe Broking）、董事长雷文特·鲁阿（Rewant Ruia）、董事会成员兼Essar资本董事拉维·鲁阿（Ravi Ruia）以及能源部长克里斯·赖特（Chris Wright）在2026年9月28日椭圆形办公室的特朗普演讲期间旁听。凯文·迪奇（Kevin Dietsch）/ 盖蒂图片社
为何选址爱荷华州？
美国有多个以钢铁业闻名的地区，但爱荷华州从未位列其中。该州仅有几家以废钢为原料的钢铁厂，规模仅为美塞比项目承诺产能的一小部分，且没有商业铁矿。美塞比金属公司总部位于明尼苏达州，其辩称爱荷华州地处密西西比河下游，地理位置便利。
但爱荷华州拥有明尼苏达州所没有的优势：全美竞争最激烈的国会选区之一。该州同时也有竞争激烈的参议院和州长选举。
这座钢铁厂拟建于爱荷华州第一国会选区，现任共和党联邦众议员玛丽安妮特·米勒-米克斯（Mariannette Miller-Meeks）正在此捍卫共和党最岌岌可危的席位之一。2024年，该选区的选举经过重新计票后，她仅以798票的优势击败民主党候选人克里斯蒂娜·博安南（Christina Bohannan）。在钢铁厂公告发布前，萨巴托水晶球（Sabato’s Crystal Ball）刚刚将该选区的选情从“势均力敌”调整为“倾向民主党”。
破产与失信历史
美塞比公司和Essar集团有着长期错过最后期限、未兑现就业承诺的记录。2008年，Essar宣布在明尼苏达州纳什瓦克投资16亿美元建设铁矿和钢铁厂，该地区拥有美国一些储量最丰富的铁矿。当时该公司承诺创造逾700个永久性岗位。但钢铁厂计划于2015年被搁置。2016年，Essar钢铁明尼苏达公司申请破产，后易主并更名为美塞比金属公司，之后又重回Essar集团控制之下。
据当地媒体报道，这家印度的Essar集团曾从俄罗斯国有银行VTB获得数十亿美元贷款。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻未对这些报道进行独立核实。
迪赫拉·辛格（Dhiraj Singh）/ 彭博社 via 盖蒂图片社
这也让人联想到其他地区巨型项目失败的先例。爱荷华州没人希望这座钢铁厂成为2026年版的富士康项目。2017年，特朗普总统和富士康承诺投资100亿美元建厂，并在摇摆州威斯康星州创造1.3万个岗位。到2021年，该计划缩减至6.72亿美元和1454个岗位。时任共和党州长斯科特·沃克（Scott Walker）力推该协议，却因公众支持率下滑在2018年连任竞选中落败。
棘手的政治博弈
本周五，共和党州参议员凯文·阿尔恩斯（Kevin Alons）对《得梅因纪事报》表示，议员们本需要更多时间准备周五的投票。
“这种政治勒索令人瞠目结舌，”他说道。
但最终他还是投了赞成票。
同样是共和党人的州参议员戴夫·西雷斯（Dave Sires）投了反对票，抱怨整个过程过于仓促。另一名共和党州参议员丹·道森（Dan Dawson）称该方案是“爱荷华州历史上规模最大的企业施舍”。共和党州参议员杰夫·泰勒（Jeff Taylor）则担忧该州本已面临严重的预算紧缩。
泰勒在最后一刻被从参议院筹款与税务委员会撤下，以确保法案能在委员会通过。最终法案以10票赞成、8票反对通过，6名共和党州参议员投了反对票。
对爱荷华州参议院的共和党人来说，这是一场精心算计的政治博弈。他们试图在两个目标间找到微妙平衡：追随领导层，为选区带回就业岗位，同时又不显得过于仓促地将逾10亿美元纳税人资金交给一家外资企业，连留给议员审议的时间都没有。
张凤国/新华社 via 盖蒂图片社
曾竞选反对企业救助的共和党州长候选人扎克·莱恩（Zach Lahn）为支持该法案辩护。他称爱荷华州兴建钢铁厂的想法是“千载难逢”的例外情况。
民主党人也处于棘手的政治境地：他们既不想反对创造就业机会，又对在10月14日提前投票开始前仓促批准近14亿美元税收减免的做法提出质疑。民主党候选人、现任州审计官罗布·桑德（Rob Sand）称这座钢铁厂是“李县的一个前景光明的构想”，但他希望先看到更多细节。
“看看本届政府过去几年达成的数据中心交易，我们几乎付出了全部代价，”桑德说道。“我希望确保这是一个真正的机遇，但归根结底，爱荷华州要能从中获益，而不是被榨干。”
爱荷华州参议院民主党领袖贾尼斯·韦纳（Janice Weiner）表示，她希望看到高薪工作和对本州的投资，但对匆忙的时间表感到不满，该时间表将纳税人排除在讨论之外。
“如果我们用正确的方式做事，我们应该等到选举结束后再做决定，”她周六对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻说道。“我们对纳税人负有责任，要确保我们来之不易的每一分钱都花得值。如果现在这是一笔好交易，那么在完成尽职调查后的1月份，它依然会是一笔好交易。”
与此同时，民主党州众议员戴夫·雅各比（Dave Jacoby）投了赞成票，“希望这项计划能够成真”，同时也警告道，“现在还不是剪彩的时候”。
如果真有剪彩仪式，那也是数年之后的事了。税收减免要等到工厂投产之后才会生效，而美塞比公司表示最早也要到2030年才能投产。爱荷华州选民将在数日内开始投票。因此，选票上的问题并非爱荷华州是否会拥有一座钢铁厂，而是选民是否相信它会建成，以及13.6亿美元的价格是否合理。
Stop the Steel? Iowa approves $1.36 billion for foreign-owned steel plant in swing district less than 2 weeks before early voting
October 3, 2026 / 8:29 AM EDT / CBS News
“Stop the Steal” — or rather, steel — has an entirely new meaning for some Iowa voters in 2026.
Protesters at the Iowa statehouse Friday carried signs reading “No Steel Steal!” as lawmakers raced through a one-day special session to award Mesabi Metallics $1.36 billion over ten years in tax incentives for a new steel plant in Lee County. Mesabi Metallics is owned by the Indian conglomorate Essar Group.
The Iowa House passed it 75-17, the Senate 28-19. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law Friday night.
It comes after President Trump’s Monday announcement that the largest steel plant in U.S. history will be built in Iowa. Mr. Trump promised the $15 billion steel plant would create 1,750 permanent jobs and roughly 6,000 construction jobs.
The announcement caught many in the state, including lawmakers who would be counted on to approve the tax incentives, by surprise. When Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters at the White House “the deal is done” on Monday, lawmakers in Iowa still hadn’t received details to review or timing for the special session held Friday.
Opponents of the $1.36 billion in incentives are largely supporters of the project, but they wanted more safeguards and guarantees of public benefits. The incentives roughly amount to about $777,000 in credits per permanent job over 10 years, a hefty price tag by any standards. Proponents argue that math leaves out roughly 6,000 construction jobs — which opponents point out are all temporary.
And a time when many of Iowa’s farmers are struggling, more than a billion-dollars in tax credit for an India-based conglomerate is a hard sell for some.
(L-R) Mesabi Metallics President and CEO Joe Broking, Chairman Rewant Ruia, board member and Essar Capital director Ravi Ruia, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright listen as President Trump speaks in the Oval Office on September 28, 2026. Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
Why Iowa?
There are places in the U.S. synonymous with steel, but Iowa has never been one of them. The state has a couple scrap-fed steel mills — a small fraction of the size Mesabi is promising — and no commercial iron ore. Mesabi Metallics is based in Minnesota, and its argument is that Iowa is conveniently downriver on the Mississippi.
But Iowa has something that Minnesota doesn’t: one of the most tightly contested congressional races in the nation. The state also has tight Senate and governor’s races.
The plant is proposed for Iowa’s first congressional district, where Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks is defending one of the GOP’s most at-risk seats. In 2024, the recount had her ahead of Democrat Christina Bohannan by just 798 votes. Sabato’s Crystal Ball just moved the race from “toss up” to “leans Democratic” before the steel announcement.
Bankruptcy and broken promises
Mesabi and Essar Group have a long history of missed deadlines and unfulfilled job promises. In 2008, Essar announced a $1.6 billion iron ore mine and steel plant in Nashwauk, Minnesota, home to some of the country’s richest iron ore deposits. It promised more than 700 permanent jobs. But the steel mill plans were dropped in 2015. Essar Steel Minnesota filed for bankruptcy in 2016, was renamed Mesabi Metallics under new owners, and later came back under Essar’s control.
The India-based Essar has recevied billions of dollars in loans from the Russian state-owned bank VTB, according to local media. CBS News has not independently verified these reports.
Signage for Essar Steel Ltd. is displayed as workers load items onto a truck at the company’s Pune Facility near Pune, Maharashtra, India, on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018. Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg via Getty Images
There are also echoes of other regional mega-projects gone awry. No one in the Hawkeye state wants the steel plant to be the 2026 version of Foxconn. In 2017, President Trump and Foxconn promised a $10 billion plant and create 13,000 jobs in the battleground state of Wisconsin. By 2021, the plan was scaled back to $672 million and 1,454 jobs. Republican Gov. Scott Walker championed the deal — and lost his 2018 reelection bid as public support for it soured.
Tricky politics
On Friday, Republican State Senator Kevin Alons told the Des Moines Register that lawmakers needed more time ahead of Friday’s vote.
“The political extortion is breathtaking,” he said.
But in the end, he voted for it.
State Senator Dave Sires, also a Republican, voted no to the project, complaining the process was rushed. State Senator Dan Dawson, another Republican, called it the “largest corporate giveaway in the state of Iowa’s history.” And Republican State Senator Jeff Taylor raised concerns that the state was already in a real budget crunch.
Taylor was swapped off the Senate Ways and Means Committee at the last minute to ensure the bill would pass committee. It passed 10-8, with 6 Republican State Senators voting against the bill.
It’s a careful political calculus for Republicans in the Iowa Senate. They’re trying to thread a fine needle: follow their leaders and bring home jobs, without being seen as rushing more than a billion dollars in taxpayer money to a foreign-owned company with no time for review.
Photo taken on May 14, 2026 shows the building of Iowa State Capitol with a gold-leafed dome in Des Moines, Iowa, the United States. Zhang Fengguo/Xinhua via Getty Images
Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, who has campaigned against corporate handouts, made a case for supporting the bill. He called the idea of an Iowa steel plant a “once in a lifetime” exception.
Democrats have been navigating tricky political territory as well, trying not to oppose job creation while pushing back on the rush to issue nearly $1.4 billion in tax breaks before early voting starts on Oct. 14. Democratic nominee Rob Sand, currently the state auditor, called the steel plant “a promising idea for Lee County” but wanted to see more details first.
“You look at these data center deals that this administration has done over the last few years and we gave away the farm,” Sand said. “I want to make sure this is a real opportunity, but also at the end of the day Iowa is getting served by it and not getting fleeced.”
Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner said she wants good-paying jobs and investments in the state but balked at the rapid timeline that left taxpayers out of the conversation.
“If we were doing this the right way, we would be waiting until after the election,” she told CBS News on Saturday. “We have a responsibility to our taxpayers to make sure our hard-earned dollars are well spent. If it’s a good deal now, it will be a good deal in January when due diligence has been done.”
Meanwhile, State Representative Dave Jacoby, a Democrat, voted yes, “with the hope that this plan is real,” while still cautioning, “today is not a ribbon cutting.”
The ribbon cutting, if it comes, is years away. The tax credits don’t kick in until the plant is running, and Mesabi says that won’t be before 2030. Iowans begin to cast their votes in just a few days. So the question on the ballot isn’t whether Iowa gets a steel mill. It’s whether voters believe it will — and if $1.36 billion was the right price to pay for it.
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