Third Amendment to Trust Agreement No. 8



 Exhibit 10(ss) 
 THIRD AMENDMENT TO TRUST AGREEMENT NO. 8 
 THIS THIRD AMENDMENT TO TRUST AGREEMENT NO. 8
(“Amendment”) is entered into effective as of December 31, 2008, between CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC., f/k/a Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, an Ohio corporation (the “Company”), and KeyBank, N.A., the successor in
interest to Key Trust Company of Ohio, N.A. (“Trustee”). 
 RECITALS: 
 A. The Company and Trustee entered into that certain Trust Agreement No. 8, dated as of April 9, 1991 (as amended, the
“Agreement”). 
 B. The Company and Trustee amended the Agreement pursuant to that certain First Amendment Trust Agreement
No. 8, dated as of March 9, 1992. 
 C. The Company and Trustee further amended the Agreement pursuant to that certain Second
Amendment to Trust Agreement No. 8, dated as of June 12, 1997. 
 D. The Company has determined that it is in the best interests of
the Company to further amend the Agreement to comply with the requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as amended, the “Code”). 
 E. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings assigned to such terms in the Agreement. 
 NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises and covenants contained herein, the Company and Employee agree as follows 
 1. The second sentence of Section 1(b) shall be deleted in its entirety, and there shall be substituted in lieu thereof, the following: 

“For purposes of this Trust Agreement No. 8, the term “Change of Control” shall mean the occurrence during the Term
of any of the following events: 
 (i) Any one person, or more than one person acting as a group, acquires ownership of stock
of the Company that, together with stock held by such person or group, constitutes more than 50% of the total fair market value or total voting power of the stock of the Company. However, if any one person, or more than one person acting as a group,
is considered to own more than 50% of the total fair market value or total voting power of the stock of the Company, the acquisition of additional stock by the same person or persons is not considered to cause a Change in Control. An increase in the
percentage of stock owned by any one person, or persons acting as a group, as a result of a transaction in which the Company acquires its stock in exchange for property will be treated as an acquisition of stock for purposes of this Trust Agreement
No. 8. 
 (ii) Any one person, or more than one person acting as a group, acquires (or has acquired during the 12-month
period ending on the date of the most recent acquisition by such person or persons) ownership of stock of the Company possessing 35% or more of the total voting power of the stock of the Company. 







 (iii) A majority of members (each, a “Director”) of the Board is replaced
during any 12-month period by Directors whose appointment or election is not endorsed by a majority of the members of the Board prior to the date of the appointment or election. 
 (iv) Any one person, or more than one person acting as a group. acquires (or has acquired during the 12-month period ending on the date of
the most recent acquisition by such person or persons) assets from the Company that have a total gross fair market value equal to or more than 40% of the total gross fair market value of all of the assets of the Company immediately prior to such
acquisition or acquisitions. 
 Notwithstanding the foregoing, any acquisition of ownership of stock of the Company by any one person, or more
than one person acting as a group, pursuant to a Business Combination shall not constitute a Change of Control. A “Business Combination” shall mean any business transaction such as a reorganization, merge or consolidation involving the
Company, a sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, or any other transaction involving the Company, if, in each case, immediately following any such business transaction, (A) all or substantially all
of the individuals and entities who were the beneficial owners of stock of the Company immediately prior to such business transaction beneficially own, directly or indirectly, more than 55% of the combined voting power of the then outstanding shares
of stock of the entity which as a result of such transaction owns (including, without limitation, an entity which as a result of such transaction owns the Company or all or substantially all of the Company’s assets either directly or through
one or more subsidiaries) in substantially the same proportions relative to each other as their ownership, immediately prior to such business transaction, of the stock of the Company, (B) no one person, or more than one person acting as a group
(other than the Company, such entity resulting from such business transaction, or employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or maintained by the Company, any Subsidiary or such entity resulting from such business transaction), beneficially
owns, directly or indirectly, 30% or more of the combined voting power of the then outstanding shares of stock of the entity resulting from such business transaction were members of the Incumbent Board at the time of the execution of the initial
agreement or of the action of the Board providing for such business transaction, and (C) at least a majority of the members of the board of directors of the entity resulting from such business transaction were members of the Incumbent Board at
the time of the execution of the initial agreement or of the action of the Board of Directors providing for such business transaction. 
 The
“Incumbent Board” shall mean those individuals who, as of December 31, 2008, constitute the Board; provided, however, that any individual becoming a Director subsequent to December 31, 2008 whose election, or nomination for
election by the Company’s shareholders, was approved by a vote of at least a majority of the Directors then comprising the Incumbent Board (either by a specific vote or by approval of the proxy statement of the Company in which such person is
named as a nominee for Director, without objection to such nomination) shall be deemed to have been a member 

  

 2 








 
of the Incumbent Board, but excluding for this purpose, any such individual whose initial assumption of office occurs as a result of an actual or threatened
election contest (as described in Rule 14(a)-12(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) with respect to the election or removal of Directors or other actual or threatened solicitation of proxies or consents by or on behalf of a person other than
the Board. 
 For purposes of this Trust Agreement No. 8, other than the definition of “Business Combination,” (i) persons
will be considered to be acting as a group if they are owners of a corporation that enters into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of stock, or similar business transaction with the Company, and (ii) if a person, including an
entity owns stock in both corporations that enter into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of stock, or similar transaction, such shareholder is considered to be acting as a group with other shareholders in a corporation prior to the
transaction giving rise to the change and not with respect to the ownership interest in the other corporation.” 
 2. Immediately
following Section 1(f) of the Agreement there shall be inserted the following: 
 “(g) Notwithstanding the
foregoing, no transfer of property (as such term is defined in Section 83 of the Code) or assets to the Trust shall be made if such transfer would violate the terms of Section 409A(b)(2) or (b)(3) of the Code.” 
 3. Section 13(b) shall be deleted in its entirety, and there shall be substituted in lieu thereof, the following: 
 “(b) If the Internal Revenue Service, or, if an appeal is taken therefrom, a court of competent jurisdiction, makes a determination
pursuant to which any provision of this Trust Agreement No. 1 requires any amounts to be includable as compensation in the gross income of a Trust Beneficiary in a taxable year that is prior to the taxable year or years in which such amounts
would, but for such a determination, otherwise actually be distributed or made available to the Trust Beneficiary, then the provision that is the basis for such a determination shall be (i) void and of no force or effect, or (ii) read and
interpreted in a manner that will not result in any amounts being includable as compensation in the gross income of a Trust Beneficiary in a taxable year that is prior to the taxable year or years in which such amounts would otherwise actually be
distributed or made available to the Trust Beneficiary.” 
 4. This Amendment shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with,
the internal laws, and not the law of conflicts, of the State of Ohio. 
 5. In all other respects, the Agreement and each and every
provision thereof shall remain in full force and effect as if fully restated herein. 
 [Signature Page Follows] 
  

 3 








 INTENDING TO BE LEGALLY BOUND, the parties hereto have executed this Amendment as of the date first
written above. 
  

			
	CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC.
	(the “Company”)
	
	/s/ W. A. Brake
	Name:	 	W. A. Brake
	Its:	 	EVP Human & Tech. Resources
	
	KEYBANK, N.A.
	(“Trustee”)
	
	/s/ Thor Haraldsson
	Name:	 	Thor Haraldsson
	Its:	 	Vice President
	
	and
	
	 
	Name:	 	 
	Its:	 	 


  

 4