Opposition to US Steel, Nippon deal growing; Biden says US ownership ‘vital’

“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,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House on Thursday, March 14. 

“I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it,” he said, adding: “It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.”

Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, where US Steel is headquartered, echoed that sentiment.

“Pennsylvania workers are the American steel industry’s greatest asset. I have long held concerns that this sale could be a bad deal for our workers, and I share President Biden’s commitment to maintaining an American steel industry,” Casey told Fastmarkets on Thursday.

Strengthen your contract negotiations with our market-reflective steel price data. Create tailored steel price charts and view monthly averages, steel price assessments and steel price forecasts for hundreds of global steel prices. Find out more about our steel prices today.

“People are [upset] that a foreign company wants to purchase US Steel,” a distributor told Fastmarkets on Thursday, indicating that the transaction would be less controversial if it were not an election year in the United States. “There are jobs at stake; nobody cares about a steel mill being sold unless it’s US Steel.”

US Steel and Nippon did not respond to Fastmarkets’ requests for comment by the time of publication.

While the Biden administration previously pledged “serious scrutiny” of the tentative takeover of US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp, the statement on Thursday marks the first time the president has publicly weighed on the matter since Nippon first announced its plans in December.

Widespread criticism

According to Samir Kapadia, managing principal and head of trade at The Vogel Group, the president’s opposition to the deal was not surprising.

“For nearly four years, [the Biden administration] has espoused the notion that they’ve ushered in a new renaissance of American manufacturing. I don’t see anyone in the administration giving an okay to this transaction. If they were to give an okay to this notion, it would defeat the purpose of that promise and all that work,” he told Fastmarkets on Thursday.

Indeed, the transaction has been openly criticized by members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, who have voiced concerns around the national security implications of selling a US manufacturer for the defense and infrastructure industries to a foreign entity.

The United Steelworkers (USW) labor union also welcomed the president’s statement on Thursday.

“We’re grateful for his unfailing support and his ongoing commitment to advancing the interests of working families and their communities,” David McCall, international president of the USW, said. “Allowing one of our nation’s largest steel manufacturers to be purchased by a foreign-owned corporation leaves us vulnerable when it comes to meeting both our defense and critical infrastructure needs.”

The USW has been a vocal opponent of the potential acquisition, despite Nippon Steel’s repeated assurances to assume all union agreements.

While the USW signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Nippon Steel last month, the union said the NDA was a not crucial development in their negotiations.

Following the latest round of talks between the union and Nippon Steel, the USW said on March 7 that a meeting with the steelmaker “yielded no progress” and that the company has still not earned the union’s trust.

We provide more than 250 steel prices, including industry benchmarks from across the globe. Fastmarkets’ steel price data combines the intelligence of industry-leading brands such as Metal Bulletin, American Metal Market, Scrap Price Bulletin and Industrial Minerals. Talk to us about our steel price data options today.