A plan that would see the purchase of the industry giant U.S. Steel by a Japanese company is proving one of the very few things in this election season that the candidates of both major parties agree on.
Late last year it was announced that the Tokyo-based Nippon Steel had agreed to buy the nearly 125-year-old U.S. Steel for a record $14.9 billion. That announcement was celebrated by officials with both companies, as well as economic analysts, who said the purchase/merger would keep the legendary Pittsburgh-based company in business.
But the plan has since been met with the stern resistance of any number of U.S. public officials, starting with former President Donald Trump, who earlier this year said that if he is returned to the White House he would block the deal “instantaneously.”
“We saved the steel industry,” Trump said after meeting with Teamsters president Sean O’Brien. “Now, U.S. Steel is being bought by Japan. So terrible.”
Add to those critical of the deal: Democrat Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris. Speaking in Pittsburgh, Harris said U.S. Steel “should remain American-owned and American-operated,” adding that it is “vital for our nation to maintain strong American steel companies.”
The move has been equally condemned by President Biden, Republican Vice Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance, and Pennsylvania Democrat Senator John Fetterman.
Despite the bipartisan blowback, U.S. Steel has said it remains determined to proceed with the transaction. In a statement sent to the publication The Hill, the company said the Nippon Steel acquisition is the “best deal for our employees, shareholders, communities, and customers.”
The statement added that the purchase will “strengthen the American steel industry, American jobs, and American supply chains,” while also enhancing the domestic steel industry’s “competitiveness and resilience against China.”
Founded in 1901 by the legendary financier and banker J.P. Morgan, U.S. Steel for decades has been an industry behemoth, often called the backbone of the nation’s economy.
Although the company recorded revenues in excess of $18 billion last year, its productive capacity has declined from around 65% of all the steel manufactured in the U.S. a century ago, to just 12% today.
In a joint statement, U.S. Steel and Nippon said they expected the transaction to be finalized by the end of this year, “subject to the fulfillment of the remaining customer closing conditions, including the receipt of required U.S. regulatory approvals.”
By Garry Boulard
