WASHINGTON (news agencies) — President Donald Trump on Friday suggested that Nippon Steel would no longer buy U.S. Steel as planned, but the Japanese company would instead invest in the symbolically important American business.
The U.S. president mistakenly referred to Nippon Steel as “Nissan,” the Japanese automaker. But it’s Nippon Steel’s bid that generated controversy as both Trump and his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden, vowed to block the merger.
Nippon Steel “is going to be doing something very exciting about U.S. Steel,” Trump said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. “They’ll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase.”
It was unclear what the details of the investment would be, but Trump said he would meet with the head of Nippon Steel next week and he would be involved “to mediate and arbitrate.”
Ishiba described the investment as mutually beneficial and said Japanese technology would be provided to U.S. Steel mills.
Nippon Steel in December 2023 made what was a nearly $15 billion bid to buy U.S. Steel, creating a sudden political issue in the 2024 presidential election as the Pittsburgh-headquartered steelmaker was key to the identity of the political swing state of Pennsylvania. Biden agreed with the United Steelworkers, the labor union, in seeking to block the merger, while Trump as a candidate said outright he opposed the purchase.
In December, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, sent its long-awaited report on national security concerns about the merger to Biden.
But the government panel failed to reach a consensus as to whether there were national security issues. The Biden administration extended a deadline for Nippon Steel to abandon the deal, essentially giving Trump the choice on what step to take next.
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