On Monday, Nippon Steel Corp. and US Steel Corp. both announced that they had filed lawsuits against the United States government after Joe Biden blocked their merger. Last Friday the US President, who will soon be replaced by Donald Trump, rejected Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion acquisition of US Steel, claiming that there is credible evidence to believe that the former “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order requires the companies to take necessary steps “to fully and permanently abandon” the transaction within 30 days.
The Fight Goes On for Nippon Steel and US Steel
Neither organization, however, is willing to give up without a fight. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Nippon Steel CEO Eiji Hashimoto said the country’s top steelmaker would be standing firm on its proposed takeover of the American company. “A review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was not properly conducted due to President Biden’s illegal intervention. We can never accept this,” he said. Hashimoto added, “We will never give up on growing our US operations. There is neither a reason nor a need to. This is the best way for us.”
Later in the day, US Steel CEO David Burritt called on Trump to reverse Biden’s decision. “The president can step in now and undo the wrongful, shameful, corrupt actions of Biden,” he said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. Burritt added, “What we want is for due process to work. Obviously, we have a new president that will take a fresh look at this. We understand what his current views are, but he’s a smart guy. He has the opportunity to have fresh eyes and do what’s right, and I believe strongly he will.”
Despite Burritt’s positivity, Trump has previously made clear his intention to block the acquisition and, based on his comments on Monday, there’s no reason to believe he will change his mind. “Why would they want to sell US Steel now when tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company?” he wrote on Truth Social.
Prime Minister Ishiba Expresses His Concerns Over Biden’s Order
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, expressed his concerns about Biden’s decision to block the merger. “It’s unfortunately true that there are concerns being raised within Japan’s industrial world over future Japan-US investment,” he told reporters. “It would be inappropriate for the Japanese government to comment on the management of an individual company that was under review as per US domestic law … but we will strongly call on the US government to take steps to dispel these concerns. They need to be able to explain clearly why there is a national security concern, or else further discussions on the matter will not work,” he added.
