Trump says US Steel will keep HQ in Pittsburgh in a sign he'll approve
bid by Japan-based Nippon
[May 24, 2025] By
MARC LEVY and PAUL WISEMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. Steel
will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a
“planned partnership” that seemed to signal that he’ll approve a bid by
Japan-based Nippon Steel to make a big investment in the iconic American
steelmaker, if not buy it outright.
Still, Trump's statement left it vague as to whether he is approving
Nippon Steel's bid after he vowed repeatedly to block the deal to
prevent U.S. Steel from being foreign-owned.
More recently, Trump suggested that Nippon Steel would invest in U.S.
Steel, not buy it, and one union official suggested Friday that the
federal government will have a role in the company's management going
forward. But investors seemed to take Trump's statement as a sign that
he's approving some sort of merger, sharply pushing up U.S. Steel's
shares, and the companies issued approving statements.
Nippon Steel said the partnership is a “game changer — for U.S. Steel
and all of its stakeholders, including the American steel industry, and
the broader American manufacturing base.” U.S. Steel said it “will
remain American, and we will grow bigger and stronger through a
partnership with Nippon Steel that brings massive investment, new
technologies and thousands of jobs over the next four years."
Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion bid to buy U.S. Steel was blocked by
former President Joe Biden on his way out of office and, after Trump
became president, subject to another national security review by the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
In his statement Friday, Trump said that “after much consideration and
negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters
in the Great City of Pittsburgh.”
What Trump called a “planned partnership” will add $14 billion to the
U.S. economy, he said, although it wasn't clear what the terms of the
deal would be or who would control U.S. Steel under the arrangement.
Neither company explained Friday how the partnership would be
structured.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa told reporters Friday
that he was closely watching the development. He said Nippon Steel has
made a proposal that could win support from U.S. Steel and make a good
investment for both Japan and the U.S.
Josh Spoores, the Pennsylvania-based head of steel Americas analysis for
commodity researcher CRU, said that, from what he’s seeing, “this
‘partnership’ is a green light for the acquisition.”
Shares of U.S. Steel jumped 21% on the news, and continued rising in
aftermarket trading.
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The United States Steel logo is pictured outside the headquarters
building in downtown Pittsburgh, April 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Gene J.
Puskar, File)
 U. S. Steel’s board and stockholders
approved Nippon Steel’s bid last year. It has been opposed by the
United Steelworkers union. The union had no immediate comment
Friday.
A union official who defied the United Steelworkers' leadership to
support Nippon Steel's bid said Friday that the federal government
could take on a major role in the deal.
“It’s sounds like the deal’s done,’’ said Jason Zugai, vice
president of the United Steelworkers union local at U.S. Steel's
Irvin finishing plant near Pittsburgh.
Zugai said he was “relieved, happy and thankful.’’
He hadn't seen anything on paper but, he said, his understanding was
that Nippon “will make all the profit’’ and the federal government
will have “a golden chair’’ that allows it to veto any plans to idle
or shut down U.S. Steel plants.
Keeping U.S. Steel's headquarters had always been part of Nippon
Steel's bid to buy it. To sweeten the deal, Nippon Steel had offered
up a $2.7 billion commitment to upgrade U.S. Steel's two blast
furnaces and pledged that it wouldn't import steel slabs that would
compete with the facilities.
Nippon Steel also had pledged not to conduct layoffs or plant
closings during the term of the existing labor agreement and to
protect the best interests of U.S. Steel in trade matters.
U.S. Steel's CEO David Burritt warned last September that blocking
Nippon Steel's bid would mean U.S. Steel would “largely pivot away”
from investing in its two blast furnaces — one just outside
Pittsburgh and one in Gary, Indiana — and it would raise “serious
questions” about remaining headquartered in Pittsburgh.
As recently as December, Trump said he was "totally against the once
great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company.”
Then in February, Trump suggested that Nippon Steel wouldn't buy
U.S. Steel, as it had planned, but that it would instead invest in
U.S. Steel.
Last month, Trump ordered a new national security review of Nippon
Steel’s proposed bid.
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