OAN Staff James Meyers
11:02 AM – Monday, January 6, 2025
U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel sued the U.S. government on Monday in a bid to challenge the Biden administration’s order to block the almost $15 billion deal for the Japanese company to buy the American steelmaker.
Advertisement
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., accused Biden and senior administration officials of corrupting the deal’s review process and American steel workers by blocking the deal.
“Nippon Steel and US Steel are disappointed to see such a clear and improper exploitation of the country’s national security apparatus in an effort to help win an election and repay political favors,” the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.
“Nippon Steel and US Steel are entitled to a fair process and have been left with no choice but to challenge the decision and the process leading to it in court.”
The companies also filed a second lawsuit against competitor Cleveland-Cliffs, its CEO Lourenco Goncalves, and United Steelworkers (USW) President David McCall.
This comes after Biden blocked the merger on Friday after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. decided on a decision after a yearlong review process. The president claimed that he was killing the merger over national security concerns.
“It is my solemn responsibility as President to ensure that, now and long into the future, America has a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad,” Biden said in a statement on Friday, “and it is a fulfillment of that responsibility to block foreign ownership of this vital American company.”
“A committee of national security and trade experts determined this acquisition would create risk for American national security,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said in a statement. “President Biden will never hesitate to protect the security of this nation, its infrastructure, and the resilience of its supply chains.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt warned that if the firm’s acquisition by Nippon Steel fell through, the company would likely close mills in Pennsylvania’s Monongahela Valley and Gary, Indiana, which had been slated to receive a multi-billion-dollar upgrade handed down by Nippon following the completion of the sale.
“We did everything right as a company with Nippon,” Burritt told Fox Business correspondent Lydia Hu in an interview on Monday. “We did everything right. The government failed us. They failed because they didn’t follow the process. And we’re going to right that wrong. They failed our workers. They failed our communities. They failed our country. They failed our best ally in Asia. And they’ve emboldened China by not following the rule of law.”
Additionally, USW President David McCall said that the union is reviewing the companies’ complaint and that he will “vigorously defend against these baseless allegations.”
“By blocking Nippon Steel’s attempt to acquire U.S. Steel, the Biden administration protected vital U.S. interests, safeguarded our national security and helped preserve a domestic steel industry that underpins our country’s critical supply chains.”
This comes after Nippon Steel had pledged to invest $2.7 billion in U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works and the Gary Works as part of a modernization project aimed at making the facilities more competitive with international rivals. Furthermore, Nippon said it would preserve the name, brand and headquarters of U.S. Steel and refrain from layoffs through 2026 if the deal went through.
Before accepting Nippon’s offer, U.S. Steel turned down Cleveland-Cliffs’ $7 billion buyout offer in 2023.
Nippon and U.S. Steel also said in a press release on Monday that Biden used “undue influence to advance his political agenda.”
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has stated that he will also block the deal.
“Why would they want to sell U.S. Steel now when Tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company?” Trump wrote. “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!”
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Advertisements below