Steel mill projects that have been languishing for more than a decade may get a new lease on life as President Donald Trump's America First agenda gives previously untenable ventures a chance.

Take New Steel International Inc., a company founded by a former U.S. Steel Corp. engineer that's been trying to build a low-pollution mill in the U.S. since 2005. That quest now looks a little less quixotic after a series of policy shifts in the last few months.

Even before Trump ordered tariffs on steel imports, Congress passed a tax bill that's likely to draw more foreign investment to the U.S. and expanded a tax credit for emitters that capture their carbon dioxide. These policy changes are emboldening New Steel as it plans construction of new mills in Ohio and Michigan. Either would be the first integrated steel-making site to be built in the U.S. since 1964 and a win for Trump, who's pledged to bring back manufacturing jobs.

In December, Crain's first reported New Steel International was the mystery company behind an effort to assemble nearly 1,000 acres of Shiawassee County farm land to build a massive steel-making plant along I-69 in Durand. New Steel's project had previously been shrouded in secrecy under the code name "Project Tim."

If New Steel's projects in Ohio and Michigan come together — which may still be a long shot because no significant financial backer has emerged publicly — it would kick-start new production in a U.S. industry that's seen employment shrink for decades.

The expanded CO2 tax credit — included in the government spending bill signed into law last month — would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the projected annual revenue of New Steel's mills. It also would enable the company to call the combined iron, electricity and steel complex it's planning "zero carbon" instead of low carbon, a distinction that President John Schultes says could help attract a new kind of investor.

"People want sustainable opportunities," Schultes said in an interview. "The steel industry doesn't have a very good reputation to do this but we will be breaking new ground.''