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The
U.S. president mistakenly referred to Nippon Steel as “Nissan,”
the Japanese automaker. But it's Nippon Steel's bid that
generated controversy as both Trump and his predecessor in the
White House, Joe Biden, vowed to block the merger.
Nippon Steel “is going to be doing something very exciting about
U.S. Steel,” Trump said at a news conference with Japanese Prime
Minister Shigeru Ishiba. “They’ll be looking at an investment
rather than a purchase.”
It was unclear what the details of the investment would be, but
Trump said he would meet with the head of Nippon Steel next week
and he would be involved “to mediate and arbitrate.”
Ishiba described the investment as mutually beneficial and said
Japanese technology would be provided to U.S. Steel mills.
Nippon Steel in December 2023 made what was a nearly $15 billion
bid to buy U.S. Steel, creating a sudden political issue in the
2024 presidential election as the Pittsburgh-headquartered
steelmaker was key to the identity of the political swing state
of Pennsylvania. Biden agreed with the United Steelworkers, the
labor union, in seeking to block the merger, while Trump as a
candidate said outright he opposed the purchase.
In December, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United
States, known as CFIUS, sent its long-awaited report on national
security concerns about the merger to Biden.
But the government panel failed to reach a consensus as to
whether there were national security issues. The Biden
administration extended a deadline for Nippon Steel to abandon
the deal, essentially giving Trump the choice on what step to
take next.
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