HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Steel will stop processing steel slabs at its Granite City Works plant in Illinois, three months after Nippon Steel sealed a deal with President Donald Trump to buy the iconic American steelmaker by giving the government a say over decisions that affect domestic steel production.

U.S. Steel will end production at the plant, likely in November, but it won’t lay off any of the roughly 800 workers there or reduce their pay, it said. Workers will maintain the plant so that it is operational in case anything changes, U.S. Steel said.

They’ll keep their jobs at least until 2027, as a result of a national security agreement between Trump and Nippon Steel that allowed its buyout of U.S. Steel to go forward.

In a statement, the Pittsburgh steelmaker said Tuesday that it will “optimize” its operations by focusing on processing raw steel at its Mon Valley Works facilities in Pennsylvania and Gary Works in Indiana.

Granite City Works makes rolls of sheet steel for the construction, container, pipe and automotive industries.

The plant is located in southern Illinois, just outside St. Louis. However, in 2023, U.S. Steel stopped producing raw steel there when it idled the last operating blast furnace at Granite City. It idled the other blast furnace there in 2019.

The United Steelworkers union local in Granite City told its members in a memo that U.S. Steel is developing a severance package, but that U.S. Steel told it there would be no layoffs because of the decision.

In a statement, the United Steelworkers district director in Illinois, Mike Millsap, said it had yet to receive anything in writing from U.S. Steel about its plan for Granite City Works.