By Bob Tita

Lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation next week to allow car buyers purchasing American-made vehicles to deduct the interest paid on their auto loans from federal income taxes, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno said Friday.

"We need to do everything possible to encourage the purchase of American vehicles," the Ohio Republican said during a press conference.

Moreno was in Cleveland, Ohio, to promote steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs' pledge to give its employees $1,000 towards the purchase of 50 U.S.-made vehicle models that contain significant amounts of steel produced by the company, the leading supplier of sheet steel to the auto industry.

The moves come as the auto industry warns that proposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports will drive up the cost of vehicles and car parts built in the two countries, denting U.S. car sales.

Moreno and Cliffs Chief Executive Lourenco Goncalves said the United States needs to increase domestic steel production to eliminate the need for imported steel.

"That's the baseline, that we have enough steel produced here to satisfy demand in America," said Moreno, who defeated incumbent Sherrod Brown in November. "The next thing is to become an exporter." Moreno said the U.S. steel industry needs to challenge China's dominance over the global steel market.

Although U.S. steel executives often complain about lower-cost imports pressuring domestic steel prices, American steel demand has exceeded domestic production for decades. U.S. steelmakers have historically let foreign producers supply the metal with low profit margins or sales, while U.S. companies focused production on large volume, higher-value steel varieties.

Imports last year accounted for 24% of the finished steel in the U.S., according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 07, 2025 16:13 ET (21:13 GMT)

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