U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have sued the Biden administration for blocking a deal that would have resulted in the Japanese company acquiring the U.S. steelmaker.
The lawsuit accuses the Biden administration of violating the companies’ due process rights.
“From the outset of the process, both Nippon Steel and U. S. Steel have engaged in good faith with all parties to underscore how the Transaction will enhance, not threaten, United States national security, including by revitalizing communities that rely on American steel, bolstering the American steel supply chain, and strengthening America’s domestic steel industry against the threat from China,” the steelmakers said in a statement. “Nippon Steel is the only partner both willing and able to make the necessary investments – including no less than $1 billion to Mon Valley Works and approximately $300 million to Gary Works as part of the $2.7 billion committed – to protect and grow U. S. Steel for the benefit of employees, the communities in which it operates, and the entire American steel industry.”
Last week, outgoing President Joe Biden announced that he blocked the sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese firm Nippon Steel.
“As I have said many times, steel production—and the steel workers who produce it—are the backbone of our nation,” a White House statement read. “A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains. That is because steel powers our country: our infrastructure, our auto industry, and our defense industrial base. Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.”
He declared that it is his “solemn responsibility as President to ensure that, now and long into the future, America has a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad; and it is a fulfillment of that responsibility to block foreign ownership of this vital American company. U.S. Steel will remain a proud American company – one that’s American-owned, American-operated, by American union steelworkers – the best in the world.”
U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt called Biden’s action “shameful and corrupt.”
“He gave a political payback to a union boss out of touch with his members while harming our company’s future, our workers, and our national security,” Burritt said, declaring that Biden “insulted Japan, a vital economic and national security ally, and put American competitiveness at risk.”