On January 10, 2025, US President Biden attended a briefing on the federal response to the Los Angeles wildfires in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, USA.
Elisabeth Franz | Reuters
The Biden administration has delayed until June an order for Nippon Steel to abandon its $14.9 billion bid. United States Steel CorporationThe companies said on Saturday it gave them some time to revive the politically contentious deal.
President Joe Biden blocked the acquisition on Jan. 3 citing national security concerns, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week that the interagency review agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had conducted a “thorough analysis” of the proposed deal. .
The delay will give courts time to review legal challenges from steelmakers to Biden’s order. The parties had previously had 30 days to unwind the deal.
“We are pleased that CFIUS has approved an extension to June 18, 2025, of President Biden’s executive order requiring the parties to permanently abandon the transaction,” the companies said in a statement.
“We look forward to completing this transaction, which will ensure the best possible future for the U.S. steel industry and all stakeholders,” they said.
A spokesman for the Japanese company said that June 18 is the expiration date of the current acquisition contract between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel.
Lawyers for the White House, the Treasury Department and the United Steelworkers union, which opposed the deal, could not immediately be reached for comment late Saturday.
Both Democrat Joe Biden and incoming Republican Donald Trump have expressed opposition to the Japanese company’s takeover of the U.S. steelmaker as the two candidates vie for union votes in the November election won by Trump.
U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel claimed in Monday’s lawsuit that Biden’s longstanding opposition to the deal biased the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ review and deprived them of a fair review. They asked a federal appeals court to overturn Biden’s decision and allow them to conduct a new review to ensure the merger is completed again.
Pictures taken by drones show that on December 12, 2024, the Gary Works in Gary, Indiana, the United States, is the largest integrated steel plant in the United States and is operated by US Steel.
Vincent Orban | Reuters
The Treasury Secretary chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies and other investment transactions for national security concerns. CFIUS usually makes decisions on cases directly or submits recommendations to the president, but in the U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel case, the panel failed to reach a consensus and handed the decision to Biden.
CFIUS rarely rejects deals involving countries that are close allies of the G7, including Japan.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Sunday that he told outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a recent meeting that Biden’s decision to block the sale on national security grounds was deeply regrettable.
“The larger context of the Japan-U.S. alliance is extremely important, and it is crucial to handle the deal properly to avoid disrupting it,” Iwaya told a talk show on public broadcaster NHK.
“Japan is the largest investor in the United States. There is widespread unease in the business community, and I will continue to urge the United States to ease these concerns,” Iwaya said.
About The Author
