The merger project has been agitating the economic and political spheres in Japan and the United States for months. Joe Biden announced Friday, January 3 in a press release that he was blocking the planned takeover of the big American steel name US Steel by the Japanese giant Nippon Steel in the name of the country’s economic and security interests.
This merger “would place one of America’s largest steel producers under foreign control and pose risks to our national security and critical supply chains”justified the outgoing American president in the press release. He must cede power on January 20 to Republican Donald Trump, who also assured that he would prevent this friendly takeover, announced in December 2023.
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According to the Washington PostJoe Biden decided to block this agreement worth 14.9 billion dollars (14.47 billion euros), despite the efforts made in recent days by some of his main advisers, who warned him that The rejection of a major investment from a major Japanese company could damage relations between Washington and Tokyo.
A panel responsible for assessing the consequences of the possible takeover on the national security of the United States refused to rule at the end of December, referring the question to the outgoing American president, who had two weeks to decide.
At the heart of the presidential campaign
Joe Biden, like Republican President-elect Donald Trump, has already repeatedly expressed his opposition to this nearly $15 billion marriage. Mr. Biden believes that the steel industry is of strategic importance for the United States, which is the world’s largest importer of steel.
The operation found itself at the heart of the 2024 American presidential campaign, because it primarily concerns Pennsylvania, an electorally strategic state, which is also the cradle of steelworks in the United States.
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The American Steelworkers Union vigorously opposed the merger, which Nippon Steel instead described as a real lifeline for a struggling and much weakened industrial sector in Pennsylvania. The Japanese steel giant and US Steel have vowed to sue the government, saying it failed to follow proper procedures when reviewing the acquisition.
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