Biden rejects offer to buy US steel
His decision comes after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States failed to reach an agreement last month on potential national security risks from the deal, leaving Biden with 15 days to finalize its long-awaited report on the merger. This was done after sending it to Mr. .
president biden Blocking Nippon Steel’s proposed $14 billion takeover of U.S. Steel.
“A strong, domestically owned and operated steel industry is a key national security priority and critical to a resilient supply chain. “Without domestic steel production and a domestic steel industry, our steelworkers, our country is less strong and safer,” Biden said Friday.
Biden had previously expressed opposition to the deal, saying U.S. Steel should remain a U.S.-owned and operated company. The Biden-Harris administration’s Department of Justice investigated the deal on antitrust grounds, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) investigated the deal’s national security implications.
The president’s decision comes after U.S. Steel CEO David Britt said that if the company Acquisition by Nippon Steel If the sale fails, the company could close its steel mills in the Monongahela Valley, Pennsylvania, and Gary, Indiana, which were slated to receive billions of dollars in upgrades with cash injected from Japan after the sale closes. expensive.
U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley plant near Pittsburgh is among the facilities that would benefit from a $2.7 billion investment from Nippon Steel if the deal goes through. (Photo by Thomas ONeill/NurPhoto, Getty Images)
“If there’s no deal, we won’t do that,” Britt said. wall street journal In an interview. “I don’t have any money.”
Nippon Steel had committed to invest $2.7 billion in U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley and Gary plants as part of a modernization project aimed at making them more competitive internationally. Japan also said it would maintain the company’s name, brand and headquarters. US Steel If the agreement were to go through, layoffs would be avoided until 2026.
File: U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, DC, September 3, 2024. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Britt also indicated that the company would likely consider relocating its plant if the Mon Valley plant were to close. Headquarters are located in Pittsburgh It moved to a southern location, and the majority of the company’s production moved there.
U.S. Steel previously told FOX Business that the company has about 3,800 employees in Pennsylvania, including its Mon Valley plant and headquarters, research center and other corporate functions. of Gary Works of Indiana According to the company, it has more than 4,300 employees.
The United Steelworkers opposed the deal; vice president harris It announced its opposition to the agreement on September 2nd.
former president trump In February, he said he would block the deal if he won the election.
link: Read more about this story on FOX BUSINESS
The Washington Post first reported Thursday evening that the White House would block the deal.
