Biden opposes Nippon Steel takeover of US Steel

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden said he is against the proposed sale of US Steel to Japan's Nippon Steel, as election-year considerations appeared to outweigh the risk of angering key ally Japan.

Biden's intervention in the planned $14.1-billion acquisition comes less than a month before he hosts Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a state visit to the White House aimed at boosting ties and countering an increasingly assertive China.

But Biden's eye is seemingly on November's presidential election against Donald Trump, with lawmakers from both sides having joined with unions in opposing the sale of an American manufacturing icon to a foreign owner.

US Steel is based in Pittsburgh in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, which Biden won in the 2020 election and will fight Trump for again this year.

"It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers. I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it," Biden said in a statement.

"US Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated."

But Biden did not explicitly say he would block the deal, which has been under a federal review of how it affects national security interests since it was announced in December.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday that Tokyo was "aware of the (Biden) statement but declines to comment on an issue of an individual company's management."

He added that the "Japan-US alliance is stronger than ever" and that the nations would continue to cooperate in many areas including the "maintenance and strengthening of free and open economic order based on rules."

In a joint statement, Nippon Steel and US Steel said their partnership reflects the "close alliance between Japan and the United States."

"We welcome the administration's scrutiny of the transaction, as an objective and comprehensive review of this transaction will demonstrate that it strengthens US jobs, competition, and economic and national security," they said.

Nippon Steel said in a separate communique that the deal "delivers clear benefits to US Steel, union workers (and) the broader American steel industry."

US Steel shares slipped 6.4 percent on Thursday. Those of Nippon Steel were little changed on Friday, up 0.1 percent in morning trade.