Feasibility of Trump's Border Barrier Goes Far Beyond $5 Billion Price Tag

With the partial government shutdown in its 20th day, the political standoff in Washington over President Trump’s border wall remains focused on his $5.7 billion budget request. The larger question is whether a construction project of the scale the president has proposed is even feasible, at any cost.

From a steel industry standpoint, the project is feasible, said AISI President Tom Gibson. A 1,000-mile-long steel barrier, a compromise from Trump’s “border wall,” would require an estimated three million tons of steel. “The industry is ready to meet that demand,” said Gibson in an interview with NPR. “Last year, in the United States, we produced about 90 million tons of steel. We are operating at 81 percent capacity utilization. That means we still have a lot of unused capacity that can be dedicated to this and other projects.”