2 uncertainties in global economic conditions, excess global steelmaking capacity, oversupply of iron ore, prevalence of steel imports and reduced market demand; severe financial hardship, bankruptcy, temporary or permanent shutdowns or operational challenges of one or more of our major customers, key suppliers or contractors, which, among other adverse effects, could disrupt our operations or lead to reduced demand for our products, increased difficulty collecting receivables, and customers and/or suppliers asserting force majeure or other reasons for not performing their contractual obligations to us; risks related to U.S. government actions and other countries’ reactions with respect to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (as amended by the Trade Act of 1974), the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and/or other trade agreements, tariffs, treaties or policies, as well as the uncertainty of obtaining and maintaining effective antidumping and countervailing duty orders to counteract the harmful effects of unfairly traded imports; impacts of existing and increasing governmental regulation, including actual and potential environmental regulations relating to climate change and carbon emissions, and related costs and liabilities, including failure to receive or maintain required operating and environmental permits, approvals, modifications or other authorizations of, or from, any governmental or regulatory authority and costs related to implementing improvements to ensure compliance with regulatory changes, including potential financial assurance requirements, and reclamation and remediation obligations; potential impacts to the environment or exposure to hazardous substances resulting from our operations; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity, our level of indebtedness and the availability of capital could limit our financial flexibility and cash flow necessary to fund working capital, planned capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes or ongoing needs of our business, or to repurchase our common shares; our ability to reduce our indebtedness or return capital to shareholders within the currently expected timeframes or at all; adverse changes in credit ratings, interest rates, foreign currency rates and tax laws; challenges to successfully implementing our business strategy to achieve operating results in line with our guidance; the outcome of, and costs incurred in connection with, lawsuits, claims, arbitrations or governmental proceedings relating to commercial and business disputes, antitrust claims, environmental matters, government investigations, occupational or personal injury claims, property-related matters, labor and employment matters, or suits involving legacy operations and other matters; supply chain disruptions or changes in the cost, quality or availability of energy sources, including electricity, natural gas and diesel fuel, critical raw materials and supplies, including iron ore, industrial gases, graphite electrodes, scrap metal, chrome, zinc, other alloys, coke and metallurgical coal, and critical manufacturing equipment and spare parts; problems or disruptions associated with transporting products to our customers, moving manufacturing inputs or products internally among our facilities, or suppliers transporting raw materials to us; the risk that the cost or time to implement a strategic or sustaining capital project may prove to be greater than originally anticipated; our ability to consummate any public or private acquisition transactions and to realize any or all of the anticipated benefits or estimated future synergies, as well as to successfully integrate any acquired businesses into our existing businesses; uncertainties associated with natural or human-caused disasters, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated geological conditions, critical equipment failures, infectious disease outbreaks, tailings dam failures and other unexpected events; cybersecurity incidents relating to, disruptions in, or failures of, information technology systems that are managed by us or third parties that host or have access to our data or systems, including the loss, theft or corruption of our or third parties’ sensitive or essential business or personal information and the inability to access or control systems; liabil ities and costs arising in connection with any business decisions to temporarily or indefinitely idle or permanently close an operating facility or mine, which could adversely impact the carrying value of associated assets and give rise to impairment charges or closure and reclamation obligations, as well as uncertainties associated with restarting any previously idled operating facility or mine; our ability to realize the anticipated synergies or other expected benefits of the Stelco acquisition, as well as the impact of additional liabilities and obligations incurred in connection with the Stelco acquisition; our level of self-insurance and our ability to obtain sufficient third-party insurance to adequately cover potential adverse events and business risks; uncertainties associated with our ability to meet customers' and suppliers' decarbonization goals and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with our own announced targets; challenges to maintaining our social license to operate with our stakeholders, including the impacts of our operations on local communities, reputational impacts of operating in a carbon-intensive industry that produces greenhouse gas emissions, and our ability to foster a consistent operational and safety track record; our actual economic mineral reserves or reductions in current mineral reserve estimates, and any title defect or loss of any lease, license, option, easement or other possessory interest for any mining property; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations with unions and employees; unanticipated or higher costs associated with pension and other post-employment benefit obligations resulting from changes in the value of plan assets or contribution increases required for unfunded obligations; uncertain availability or cost of skilled workers to fill critical operational positions CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. • 200 PUBLIC SQUARE • SUITE 3300 • CLEVELAND, OH 44114-2544