3/3/2017

KEYSTONE/OIL/PIPELINES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: “A few weeks ago, when President Trump signed a directive clearing several hurdles out of the way of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the White House touted a new requirement — that the pipeline be made with American-produced steel.
Never mind.
The requirement to use domestic steel posed a potential conflict between the administration’s populist agenda and it’s pro-business stance. Apparently, business won.
Friday [3-3-17], a White House spokeswoman said Keystone would be exempt from the buy-America requirement because the pipeline was already partially underway.
‘The way that executive order is written,’ said White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, ‘it’s specific to new pipelines or those that are being repaired.’
‘Since this one is already currently under construction, the steel is already literally sitting there; it would be hard to go back,’ Sanders told reporters traveling with Trump on Air Force One en route to Florida.”

 – David Lauter, “Trump won’t require Keystone XL pipeline to use American steel after all,” The Los Angeles Times online, March 3, 2017