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| U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Works in North Braddock, Pa. |
Jan. 6, 2025, 8:22 PM GMT+6 / Updated Jan. 6, 2025, 8:52 PM GMT+6
U.S. Steel and the Japanese company that had attempted to acquire it are suing the Biden administration after President Joe Biden blocked the proposed acquisition of the iconic American manufacturer. In a statement released on Monday, U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel accused Biden of "ignoring the rule of law" to appease United Steelworkers, the union representing many of U.S. Steel’s workers, when he announced his decision on Friday to prevent the deal.
Additionally, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel are suing David McCall, the president of the union, and the CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, a rival mining company based in Ohio. They claim that McCall and Cleveland-Cliffs' head illegally collaborated to derail the transaction.
Nippon Steel had proposed a $14 billion offer to acquire U.S. Steel, a deal supported by U.S. Steel executives. However, the acquisition became tangled in a national security review by a Treasury Department committee tasked with evaluating foreign ownership proposals. The committee was unable to reach a consensus on whether Nippon Steel's ownership would present a national security risk, prompting Biden to make the final call. In his veto announcement, Biden stated that allowing the firm to fall into foreign hands would undermine critical supply chains and jeopardize American jobs.
The lawsuit also names the Treasury Department's national security committee, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Attorney General Merrick Garland. A spokesperson for the Biden administration defended the decision, emphasizing that national security experts determined the acquisition posed a potential risk to U.S. security. "President Biden will never hesitate to protect the security of this nation, its infrastructure, and the resilience of its supply chains," the spokesperson said.
McCall responded to the lawsuit by asserting that Biden's decision to block the acquisition had safeguarded U.S. interests and protected the domestic steel industry, which is vital to the nation's supply chains.
A representative from Cleveland-Cliffs did not comment on the matter.
In response to the lawsuits, President-elect Donald Trump, who had opposed the Nippon Steel deal during his campaign last year, voiced his opinion on social media. "Why would they want to sell U.S. Steel now when Tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company?" he wrote on Truth Social. "Wouldn’t it be nice to have U.S. Steel, once the greatest company in the World, lead the charge toward greatness again? It can all happen very quickly!"
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