By William J. Rich

February 27, 2026 - High above Pottsville, Pennsylvania, a towering statue of Henry Clay gazes over the historic Philadelphia Reading Coal and Iron Company building, now the Reading Anthracite Company office and the surrounding coal fields. This monument is more than a local curiosity – it stands as a reminder of the deep connection between American policy, American industry and anthracite coal. 

Erected in the 1850s to honor Clay’s legacy, the statue commemorates Clay’s championing of protective tariffs that helped shield Pennsylvania’s young coal industry. In the 19th century, when the United States was still developing its industrial base, Clay’s American System promoted tariffs designed to fend off cheaper foreign goods and nurture critical domestic industries. These policies proved instrumental in the rise of the anthracite coal sector in Northeast Pennsylvania.

It was during Henry Clay’s era that anthracite coal from Schuylkill County and its neighboring counties (Carbon, Luzerne, Northumberland, Columbia – the heart of Pennsylvania’s Anthracite Region) emerged as a foundational industrial fuel. Schuylkill County soon became the largest producer in this region, at the center of a resource that quite literally fueled the American Industrial Revolution. Anthracite coal’s intense heat and efficiency powered iron furnaces, railroads, and factories – driving manufacturing and industrial growth across the nation. Crucially, Clay’s tariff policies helped stabilize domestic markets for American coal, ensuring that homegrown anthracite could compete against foreign imports. This protection not only sustained demand for American “hard coal,” but also enabled long-term investment throughout the anthracite coal fields. In short, wise tariff policy in the 1800s cultivated a vital domestic resource and spurred America’s rise as an industrial power.

That principle is just as relevant today. The national economic narrative is once again centered on rebuilding American industry, reshoring supply chains and strengthening domestic production. To many, this moment resembles the early stages of a modern industrial resurgence – essentially a second industrial resurgence for the United States, one that depends on secure domestic resources and sustained investment. Within this context, it’s striking to consider that the United States’ only remaining domestic source of anthracite coal is still concentrated here, in Schuylkill County and the surrounding Anthracite Region. There is no alternative anthracite field elsewhere in the country, no replacement domestic supply waiting in the wings. This singular resource continues to support essential industrial and manufacturing applications both in America and abroad – from metallurgy to filtration – and it requires continuous, long-term investment to maintain its production, processing capacity and reliability.

Yet, the future of this last American anthracite stronghold is now in jeopardy. Foreign anthracite imports operate under very different cost structures, labor and environmental standards and geopolitical realities. Competing against cheaper imported coal (often from nations with lower wages or state subsidies) puts tremendous strain on U.S. producers. Without a thoughtful tariff policy, the nation risks discouraging the long-term investment needed to sustain its only domestic anthracite industry at the exact moment we are trying to rebuild our industrial base. In other words, as America pushes for a renewal of manufacturing might, we must not allow a key foundational resource – premium hard coal – to be priced out of existence by unfair foreign competition. If we do, we would be ceding a strategic advantage and exposing ourselves to supply vulnerabilities in the future.

The Henry Clay statue overlooking Pottsville is not merely a tribute to history. It is a symbol of a proven American principle: strategic resources and domestic industries must be protected at home if they are to endure. Nearly two centuries ago, Henry Clay championed tariffs to help build American industry and to foster the rise of the anthracite coal fields beneath his gaze. Today, as that same statue overlooks the historic offices of Reading Anthracite and the coal fields below, the message remains unchanged: protect what is essential at home if it is to remain strong for the nation’s future.

In Henry Clay’s era, tariffs were about industrial birth. In our era, they are about industrial survival.

William J. Rich is Vice President of Business Development for the Reading Anthracite Company.