The impression of steel brings to mind medieval long swords and plate mail armor, skyscrapers, kitchen utensils, large abstract sculptures and a host of other artifacts of man’s design. Steel also figures heavily in the field of radio and wireless communications:
Picture the iconic lattice towers with red beacon lights atop them hundreds, if not thousands, of feet in the air.. There are also steel monopoles, the contemporary archetypal representation of a cellular base station. Steel cabinets are laid atop steel equipment platforms. Antennas are fastened to steel sector frames. It goes on and on.
In all, steel is a large component of wireless infrastructure. Not too long ago, when it seemed like globalization, liberalism and open borders would lead to an interconnected network of nations and their economies, all trading freely for the best prices and use of resources and capital, steel was sourced from many places, including China and many other nations.
Fast forward to 2022, and there is general trend of nation’s turning inward, looking to domestically source materials and technology. Increased tariffs on imports have tamped down the import of steel for use by US businesses, including the wireless industry.
This general direction has impacted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which mandates adherence to Build America, Buy America sourcing requirements when using disbursed funds for infrastructure build out. This includes the wireless industry, which traditionally obtained much of its raw steel from China.
Bill guidelines state that “All iron and steel used in the project are produced in the United States. This means all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States.”
Established Trump-era steel import tariffs, along with a huge increase in importation costs due to vessel shortages have made this mandate easier to work than it would have been in, say, the year 2010. The US steel industry faces its own challenges, including parts shortages, labor shortages, and working out worker benefits amid union pressures. But all of them appear to be surmountable in the near future.