by President Trump is considering allowing Japanese Nippon steel to complete his $ 14.1 billion takeover of American steel, according to several sources.
Approval of the transaction is not clear and Mr. Trump has not made a definitive decision, say sources. If he decided for the merger, this would be one reversal of his earlier opposition against it. “I am completely against the once large and powerful American steel that is purchased by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel from Japan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December.
He meets Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday and is expected to discuss the merger, together with Automotive issues and rates. In the Oval Office, sitting next to the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Trump told reporters that he did not change his mind at the sale.
It is not immediately known whether Nippon offered further concessions, as last month it suggested to give the US government directly a veto authority on any changes in the production capacity of US Steel. The proposal represented a small change in a recommendation from the Foreign Investments Committee in the United States, an assessment panel that is known as CFIUS. That change was intended to remove the concern that the proposed purchase of American steel from Nippon Steel could lead to a decrease in domestic steel production and a reduction in the American workforce.
The proposed change in the so -called mitigation agreement would give all decision -making power to changes in the production capacity for the US government.
On Monday, Nippon and US Steel submitted an opening of 70 pages in their case against the US who claimed that former President Joe Biden was blocking the merger for political reasons and violated their appropriate process. The suit went on during the Trump government.
The two companies said in a joint statement in which the lawsuit announced last month that they were “with all parties in good faith in order to underline how the transaction will improve the national security of the United States.”
A second lawsuit aimed at domestic rival Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves and president of American steel workers David McCall was submitted to the American District of the Western District of Pennsylvania, the companies said.
Biden moved to stop the acquisition after federal supervisors were finished to approve it and said that maintaining a strong domestic steel industry was important for American national security.
