As the U.S. ramps up infrastructure investment, imported cement raises national security concerns

Eric White So we’re talking about kind of a bit of an oversight and something that you have a personal experience in. And that is the growing reliance on imported cement for military and critical construction projects. You know, this is something that I guess a lot of us just take for granted and you don’t really think about. You think of cement as almost like just dirt or sand or something like that. But it is actually something that has to be manufactured and created. What kind of put up the red flag for you to get involved with this?

John Teichert Eric, that breaks my heart that this thing that maybe is taken for granted or that is so foundational to everything that we do is actually an oversight in how we’re dealing with it at the policy level in the United States. You know about half a million jobs in the United States are supported by the cement industry. It’s a $130 billion industry. But just in the last decade and a half we have gone from importing something like 7% of our cement needs in this country to now over 22% and that imported amount is typically not safe or not reliable or not responsive to the fundamental needs that we have in this county and I really hope to explain to your listeners how cement is literally under our feet every single day and we need to make sure that the policy matches the necessary foundational elements of our country and cement is at the top of that list.

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Eric White Okay, so, you know, we’re talking about military and critical construction projects, particularly on military bases. What are those? I mean, obviously, you just need the stuff to stay still, right? But are there unique designing issues that come into play here? If you don’t have cement that is mixed properly or, you may have ingredients in it that aren’t up to snuff, what is the issue there, particularly when it comes to military bases?

John Teichert Well, so I love broadening it as wide as possible. And while military bases are absolutely important in my bread and butter, what we need as we build out additional runways, as we built out hardened facilities, as we have this boom in domestic industrial capacity that is military related, all of that requires cement. And I think it’s important to realize that we have seen horror stories even just in the last several years of some basic fundamental or foundational elements of construction that come from overseas that are either not responsive, not reliable, or unsafe. And the one that I like to point out is toxic drywall from China that infects 100,000 or more U.S. homes because it was just shoddy construction or that it didn’t have the right regulation to make sure that it met the needs in the United States. And all of the things that we hope to do as a nation and as a military require building that is robust and that robust building is all resting on good sound cement, or if it’s not, then the foundations will crumble.

Eric White Okay, so in your personal experience, you know, you’ve been there before you’re managing a budget and you’re trying to keep things under budget because, even though there’s a lot of them, everyone’s trying to make sure that the dollars go the furthest that they can. Do you foresee that it is a policy decision to go with the what is probably the cheaper option, which is why it’s being brought in more, that that is the case or is there something else that makes it easier for somebody who used to be in your shoes to go with that option because of, just whether it’s the money aspect or convenience, what is it?

John Teichert Eric, I think it’s important to go back to how American workers in the cement industry or any industry will win if we can compete on a level playing field. And I think the biggest reason why we’ve seen that huge spike or increase in the percentage of our cement needs that come from foreign sources is because the American worker is competing on a level playing field and the two things that I and we are asking for, number one, revolves around that federal law that’s Buy America, Build America, and the idea that that supports foundational elements like iron and steel, but cement was omitted from that federal legislation, which means we almost got it right, but not quite. And that allows the cement industry, if it was incorporated into Build America, Buy America to have the same benefits, especially in federal procurement, as iron and steel does. And so that would help drive the market forces for more domestic capacity. But then the other piece of this is something that is rectified, I think, through a Section 301 investigation, which is where our federal government takes a step back and looks at anti-competitive practices being done in foreign companies that are dumping cheap, low quality cement into the United States. And then creating the right policy prescriptions to level the playing field. And if we have both cement incorporated in Build America, Buy America, and the right-policy prescriptions that come from a Section 301 investigation, then now we’re creating that level playing field where I know that the American worker can compete and win. And again, going back to the economic impact here, I’m talking about $130 billion a year of economic activity through the cement industry in the United States, and over half a million jobs, and those American workers and those American companies will win if we’re given a fair playing field.

Eric White We’re speaking with retired Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert now with American Foundations. Why do you think it wasn’t included in that Buy America, Build America policy measure? Because is it like you said in your first answer, where it’s just something really not thought about? Just how integral it is to building is the actual cement? Is it just like you say, it’s something you don’t really think about because you’re walking on it every day?

John Teichert No, I think that’s exactly right. And you know, when you think about the issues that really get you going, you know I’m an aviation guy, I love airplanes and there’s other industries out there and even iron and steel tend to attract the attention more than something that is so basic, that’s so taken for granted like cement because it’s literally under our feet at every given moment. By the way, it’s also the foundation literally and figuratively of the American dream. As we try to build homes to meet the demand with supply and I just think it was an oversight because it is so basic that it is taken for granted but those members of the cement industry and all of us that rely on good quality safe reliable and responsive cement need to rectify that by including it in something like Build America, Buy America.

Eric White There has been a lot of emphasis on supply chain security, particularly in the Defense Department. I’m thinking, you know, because of the possible measures of infiltration that can occur when you go down to the nuts and bolts, I’m thinkin’ the SolarWinds hack and all that measure. What is the national security implication here as a former member of the Defense Department yourself? What is threat there if there is a vulnerability with when it comes to building supply chains?

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John Teichert Absolutely, and one of the things I already shared with you was the story about toxic drywall coming from China, and now you are infecting the community that uses that drywall. But then there’s also the lack of high-quality standards. You know, a lot of these countries that produce the cement that we import either don’t protect their own workers like we would in America. That means we’re doing an overall net harm to humanity. They also don’t have the same level of regulations, either for quality or for environmental safety with respect to how they produce. And so now, you’re either introducing toxins or you’re introducing material that can literally crumble under our feet. And from a national security standpoint, we need hardened facilities, but we also need the basic infrastructure to land airplanes and to roll tanks. And by the way, when we need to deploy, then we either do so on roads or on railways and all of those are underpinned by cement. And then there’s one other topic that I want to share with you, which is the huge economic driver of the growth of data centers and AI. And all of the centers require a large dose of cement. And again, if it starts to crumble or it introduces toxins, then now we lose the primary economic driver of the next decade, if not the next century.

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