Latest news with #DavidMcCall
Wall Street Journal
a day ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
America's New Steel Curtain
The best that can be said about President Trump's blessing of Nippon Steel's purchase of U.S. Steel is that it blocks Cleveland-Cliffs' political power play to buy U.S. Steel instead. The worst to be said is that the purchase has become another opening to make U.S. companies less competitive with higher tariff walls on foreign steel. Mr. Trump on Friday held a rally in Pennsylvania to take credit for the Nippon Steel takeover he is finally approving. He announced a consolation prize to United Steelworkers boss David McCall, who had opposed the deal: Doubling steel tariffs to 50%. The President boasted about Nippon Steel's commitment to invest $14 billion in U.S. Steel, including $2.2 billion in Pittsburgh's Mon Valley plant. But the Japanese company had agreed to most of its commitments when it sought approval from the Biden Administration. President Biden still blocked the deal as a favor to Mr. McCall and Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves. They want to create a steel cartel with more leverage to raise prices. Nippon Steel had outbid Cleveland-Cliffs in 2023. Acquiring U.S. Steel would have given Cleveland-Cliffs control over 100% of U.S. blast furnace production, iron ore reserves, electrical steel production, and two-thirds of automotive steel production.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump doubles foreign steel tariffs to 50%
President Trump announced a doubling of tariffs on foreign steel from 25 per cent to 50 per cent during an event celebrating a "partnership" between U.S. Steel and Japan 's Nippon Steel. Trump characterised the deal as an investment and partnership, while reports suggest it's an acquisition of U.S. Steel, with the steelworkers union reserving judgment until more information is available. The proposed merger, once blocked by President Biden due to national security concerns, is now framed by Trump as beneficial, promising a $14 billion investment from Nippon Steel into U.S. Steel. Union President David McCall expressed skepticism, emphasising the need for binding commitments and cautioning against trusting Nippon Steel due to past trade law violations. Trump claimed the deal would keep US Steel's headquarters in Pittsburgh, maintain full blast furnace capacity for 10 years, and create or save over 100,000 American jobs, though details of the agreement remain unclear.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Trump tells U.S. steelworkers he's going to double tariffs on foreign steel to 50%
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — President Trump told Pennsylvania steelworkers he's doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50% to protect their industry, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods. In a post later on his Truth Social platform, he added that aluminum tariffs would also be doubled to 50%. He said both tariff hikes would go into effect Wednesday. Trump spoke Friday at U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in suburban Pittsburgh, where he also discussed a details-to-come deal under which Japan's Nippon Steel will invest in the iconic American steelmaker. Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker's bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he reversed course and announced an agreement last week for 'partial ownership' by Nippon. It's unclear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured. Nippon Steel has never said it is backing off its bid to outright buy and control U.S. Steel as a wholly owned subsidiary, even as it increased the amount of money it promised to invest in U.S. Steel plants and gave guarantees that it wouldn't lay off workers or close plants as it sought federal approval of the acquisition. 'We're here today to celebrate a blockbuster agreement that will ensure this storied American company stays an American company,' Trump said as he opened an event at one of U.S. Steel's warehouses. 'You're going to stay an American company, you know that, right?' As for the tariffs, Trump said doubling the levies on imported steel 'will even further secure the steel industry in the U.S.' But such a dramatic increase could push prices even higher. Steel prices have climbed 16% since Trump became president in mid-January, according to the government's Producer Price Index. As of March 2025, steel cost $984 a metric ton in the United States, significantly more than the price in Europe ($690) or China ($392), according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The United States produced about three times more steel than it imported last year, with Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea being the largest sources of steel imports. Analysts have credited tariffs going back to Trump's first term with helping strengthen the domestic steel industry, something that Nippon Steel wanted to capitalize on in its offer to buy U.S. Steel. The United Steelworkers union remained skeptical. Its president, David McCall, said in a statement that the union is most concerned 'with the impact that this merger of U.S. Steel into a foreign competitor will have on national security, our members and the communities where we live and work.' Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country's supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security. Trump, who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the U.S. since retaking the White House, is also trying to satisfy voters, including blue-collar workers, who elected him as he called to protect U.S. manufacturing. U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed 'partnership' but also has not disclosed terms. State and federal lawmakers who have been briefed on the matter describe a deal in which Nippon will buy U.S. Steel and spend billions on U.S. Steel facilities in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas and Minnesota. The company would be overseen by an executive suite and board made up mostly of Americans and protected by the U.S. government's veto power in the form of a 'golden share.' Unionized steelworkers said there is some split opinion in the ranks over Nippon Steel's acquisition, but that sentiment has shifted over time as they became more convinced that U.S. Steel would eventually shut down their Pittsburgh-area plants. Clifford Hammonds, a line feeder at the plant where Trump spoke, said at the very least the deal will help upgrade the aging plant and help increase production. 'It's putting money back into the plant to help rebuild it, because this plant is old, it's falling apart. We ain't really producing as much as we should be because, like I said, this place is old. It's falling apart. We need some type of investment to fix the machines that we've got working,' Hammonds said. Price, Levy and Superville write for the Associated Press.
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Steelworkers Union Skeptical of Nippon, U.S. Steel Deal Touted by Trump
The union that represents more than half of U.S. Steel employees remains skeptical of the partnership that President Trump announced between the firm and its Japanese suitor Nippon Steel, saying it hasn't been consulted about the deal that Trump touted in a Pennsylvania speech on Friday. Trump has hailed the planned deal between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel as a 'partnership.' The Tokyo-based steelmaker for the past year and a half has been pursuing a $14 billion takeover of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, in recent months pledging additional investment in the company's plants to help win Trump's backing. 'We cannot speculate about the meaning of the 'planned partnership' between USS and Nippon or the 'golden share' that some politicians have claimed will be issued to the federal government,' United Steelworkers President David McCall said in a statement following Trump's speech in Pittsburgh.
France 24
24-05-2025
- Business
- France 24
Trump greenlights Nippon Steel 'partnership' with US Steel
While the details of the deal remained unclear, the Pennsylvania-headquartered firm's share price popped after Trump took to Truth Social to hail the new arrangement, closing up more than 21 percent and then rising further in after-hours trading. "US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh," the US president said in his social media post. He added that the new "planned partnership" between America's US Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel would create at least 70,000 jobs and add $14 billion to the US economy. Trump's remarks are the latest in a long saga which began in December 2023, when US Steel and Nippon Steel announced plans for a $14.9 billion merger. That deal was bitterly opposed by unions in part because it would have transfered ownership of the critical asset to a foreign company. 'Massive investment' In a statement, Nippon Steel said it "applauds" the bold action taken by Trump, adding it shared the administration's "commitment to protecting American workers, the American steel industry, and America's national security." US Steel praised Trump's "bold" leadership on the deal, noting that it would "remain American" and expand in size due to the "massive investment" that Nippon would make over the next four years as part of the deal. Neither the White House nor the two companies, have so far published the details of the new partnership. The United Steelworkers' union (USW), which represents US Steel employees and has long opposed the deal, said on Friday that it could not "speculate" on the impact of Trump's announcement without more information about the deal. "Our concern remains that Nippon, a foreign corporation with a long and proven track record of violating our trade laws, will further erode domestic steelmaking capacity and jeopardize thousands of good, union jobs," USW International President David McCall said in a statement shared with AFP. Nippon's acquisition of US Steel was originally meant to close by the end of 2024's third financial quarter, but was then held up by former president Joe Biden, who blocked it in his last weeks in office on national security grounds. The two firms then filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration's "illegal interference" in the transaction. Trump previously opposed Nippon Steel's takeover plan, calling for US Steel to remain domestically owned. But he has since softened his tone and has suggested he is open to some form of investment from Nippon. The US president recently ordered his own review of the existing deal, directing the government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to look into the proposed acquisition. CFIUS, tasked with analyzing the national security implications of foreign takeovers of US companies, was given 45 days to submit its recommendations to Trump.
