The Biden administration said Japanese company Nippon Steel’s planned $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. steel requires “serious scrutiny.”
Lael Brainard, the National Economic Advisor, said in a statement that President Joe Biden “believes U.S. Steel was an integral part of our arsenal of democracy in WWII and remains a core component of the overall domestic steel production that is critical to our national security.”
Biden also “believes the purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign entity—even one from a close ally—appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability.”
“This looks like the type of transaction that the interagency committee on foreign investment Congress empowered and the Biden Administration strengthened is set up to carefully investigate,” the statement continued. “This Administration will be ready to look carefully at the findings of any such investigation and to act if appropriate.”
“Steel is the backbone of American manufacturing on everything from infrastructure to cars to our clean energy future,” he added.
In an announcement for the acquisition, NSC President Eiji Hashimoto said, “We are excited that this transaction brings together two companies with world-leading technologies and manufacturing capabilities, demonstrating our mission to serve customers worldwide, as well as our commitment to building a more environmentally friendly society through the decarbonization of steel.”
“NSC has long admired U. S. Steel with deep respect for its advanced technologies, rich history, and talented workforce and we believe we can jointly take on the challenge of raising our aspirations to even greater heights. The transaction builds on our presence in the United States and we are committed to honoring all of U. S. Steel’s existing union contracts. We look forward to collaborating closely with the U. S. Steel team to bring together the best of our companies and move forward together as the ‘Best Steelmaker with World-Leading Capabilities’.”
U.S. Steelworkers (USW) President David McCall claimed the decision was “greedy.”
“To say we’re disappointed in the announced deal between U.S. Steel and Nippon is an understatement, as it demonstrates the same greedy, shortsighted attitude that has guided U.S. Steel for far too long,” McCall declared in a press release.
McCall noted that the purchase was “a violation of our partnership agreement that requires U.S. Steel to notify us of a change in control or business conditions.”
