The president of Nippon Steel said he is seeing support in Rust Belt communities for the Japanese company’s proposed $15 billion takeover of US Steel — a deal opposed by both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.
Tadashi Imai told reporters on Wednesday that his company has made an effort to assuage skeptics who say that the planned acquisition of the Pittsburgh-based steel giant would pose national security risks.
“In the communities of the various regions where the steel mills are located, there is a considerable amount of support for this acquisition,” Imai was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
“I hope that President Biden will understand…the value of this acquisition to the US economy.”
Imai’s comments followed a ruling Monday by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to refer the decision on whether to approve or block the deal to Biden, who has 15 days to decide.
Trump has previously expressed his opposition to the purchase.
Also Wednesday, Nippon Steel shared a letter to Biden dated Dec. 23 and signed by two dozen US municipality officials in areas where US Steel mills are located, asking the president to approve the takeover deal.
“We respectfully urge you to listen to the voices of the steelworkers and everyone else whose economic security is tied to US Steel — they are speaking loudly in unison that this deal must be approved,” the letter said.
US Steel has warned that a failure to merge with Nippon Steel would put thousands of union jobs at risk and signaled that it would close some steel mills and potentially move its headquarters out of politically important Pennsylvania.
“Nippon Steel has committed to preserve US Steel as a US company headquartered in Pennsylvania and to contribute billions of dollars of investment to our mills and communities, securing the future of steelmaking in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and our other locations,” a spokesperson for US Steel told The Post on Wednesday.
“No other party can do this, and US Steel will not and does not have the resources to do this on our own. We look forward to finalizing the transaction and remain committed to working with all relevant parties to do so.”
The Post has sought comment the White House and the Trump transition team.
Nippon has said that it plans to hire American citizens to top management and board of director positions at US Steel as part of its acquisition in hopes of allaying concerns about national security.
Both companies have previously said they had planned to close the deal, which has also faced opposition from a powerful the United Steelworkers labor union (USW), before the end of 2024.
USW said in a separate statement that it met Nippon Steel officials twice last week.
It repeated its view that the Japanese steelmaker had no interest in the long-term security of US Steel plants or blast furnace operations and urged Biden to keep the company domestically owned and operated.
In order to win support for the acquisition, Nippon Steel has previously said it will not use the deal as cover to import steel and has made a series of pledges to protect jobs and invest in U.S. facilities it sees as key to its future growth.
With Post Wires