HUGER, S.C. (WCIV) — Vice President JD Vance spent Thursday afternoon in Berkeley County, touring Nucor Steel’s plant in Huger, to mark the end of the Trump Administration’s first 100 days in office.
Vance used Nucor Steel Berkeley as a backdrop to speak about the administration’s economic agenda, adding that the steel manufacturer, which deems itself the biggest in North America, is a prime example of investing in American business.
The vice president spoke to a crowd of Nucor employees, executives and elected officials for roughly 20 minutes from a stage touting the words ‘America is Back.’
“I believe that a golden age of American manufacturing started a hundred days ago. And we’re building it right here at Nucor Steel in South Carolina,” Vance said.
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He further used Trump’s tariff rollout, including a recent 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum products, which Nucor executives say was welcomed, as a sharp rebuttal to any criticism.
“They’re saying you’re going to make it harder for foreign corporations, but you’re going to make it easier for American businesses to build great things in America,” Vance said. “And I say, that’s exactly right.”
He paused for applause from the outdoor crowd.
After touring the Berkeley plant with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin and Nucor executives, the vice president said its high technology and dedicated workers give a glimpse into the nation’s future.
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The steel manufacturer produces roughly a fourth of all raw steel in the U.S. and has over 10,000 customers, according to Nucor’s website.
“The American dream was built by steel makers and auto workers and people who work with their hands,” Vance loudly said to the plant workers wearing hard hats behind the stage.
An American dream that Vance claimed the previous administration turned its back on.
“They decided that America would no longer be a manufacturing power,” the vice president said. “We want our children to grow up in a country where the things that they need are made by their neighbors and not by foreigners who hate their guts.”
While Vance touted the Trump administration’s economic agenda, South Carolina’s only Democrat in Congress, Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.-06), took the moment as a chance to highlight the uncertainty several of the Trump administration’s policies have produced.
“South Carolinians will not be fooled by J.D. Vance’s rhetoric,” Clyburn said in a statement. “The Trump Administration’s economic record in its first 100 days has been an abysmal failure, and a substantial course correction is needed to prevent grave harm to families and businesses.
“South Carolina stands to be harmed disproportionately. The Vice President would be better served by using his visit today to hear from South Carolinians from all walks of life—longshoremen, autoworkers, farmers, aircraft assemblers, hospitality employees, small business owners, and everyone else trying to make ends meet and urging the Administration to alter its approach before it is too late.”
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Zeldin, who introduced Vance onstage, doubled down on this message.
“Making America proud. This is red, white and blue made in America, Nucor,” he shouted.
But Trump’s rollout of tariffs, among other executive orders, hasn’t been welcomed by all South Carolinians.
43% of the state views the president negatively, an April poll by Winthrop University found.
And the vice president’s visit to the Lowcountry comes after the economy shrank at an annual pace of 0.3% from January-March, its first drop in three years. The fall reversed a prior gain in gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.4% in the last three months of 2024.