Trump approves Nippon-U.S. Steel deal after national-security agreement

Japan Times

15 hours ago

U.S. President Donald Trump has approved the partnership between United States Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel, the companies said Friday.
'We look forward to putting our commitments into action to make American steelmaking and manufacturing great again,' the companies said in a statement.
The steelmakers also entered into a national security agreement with the U.S. government, the statement said.
Trump, in an executive order, said earlier Friday that concerns over national security risks posed by Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel could be resolved if the companies fulfill certain conditions that his administration has laid out, ultimately paving the way for the deal's approval.
The companies said the agreement includes $11 billion in new investments to be made by 2028 and governance commitments including a golden share to be issued to the U.S. government. They did not detail how much control the golden share would give the U.S.
Shares of U.S. Steel had dipped earlier on Friday after a Nippon Steel executive told the Nikkei newspaper that its planned takeover of U.S. Steel required "a degree of management freedom" to go ahead after Trump earlier had said the U.S. would be in control with a golden share.
The bid, first announced by Nippon Steel in December 2023, has faced opposition from the start. Both Democratic former President Joe Biden and Trump, a Republican, asserted last year that U.S. Steel should remain U.S.-owned, as they sought to woo voters ahead of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, where the company is headquartered.
Biden in January, shortly before leaving office, blocked the deal on national security grounds, prompting lawsuits by the companies, which argued the national security review they received was biased. The Biden White House disputed the charge.
The steel companies saw a new opportunity in the Trump administration, which began on Jan. 20 and opened a fresh 45-day national security review into the proposed merger in April.
But Trump's public comments, ranging from welcoming a simple "investment" in U.S. Steel by the Japanese firm to floating a minority stake for Nippon Steel, spurred confusion.
At a rally in Pennsylvania on May 30, Trump lauded an agreement between the companies and said Nippon Steel would make a "great partner" for U.S. Steel. But he later told reporters the deal still lacked his final approval, leaving unresolved whether he would allow Nippon Steel to take ownership.