Final Thoughts

Did SMU survey respondents agree with President Biden’s decision to block the deal? Or did Biden make a bad call? Well, your answers are in, and we thought we’d share some of them.

FYI, the majority thought it was the wrong decision. If you want one takeaway before pushing on, read the following. It’s the kind of straight-shooting you might expect from the steel industry. No punches are pulled:

“Joe Biden is an idiot!”

While that might be a good summary, there was more nuance in other respondents’ comments. Issues such as Mon Valley Works in Pennsylvania cropped up a lot, as well as some doubts on how USS would fare if the deal is ultimately quashed.

We have divided the responses into a few categories for you. Hope the comments can provide some unexpected insights. We know they did for us.

Wrong call:

“It is a shame when politics interferes with ‘good business.’ USS needs Nippon, and Nippon is willing to pay mightily for it. And, on top of that, Japan is a great ally to the US.“

“Nippon brings a lot of things to the table: new investment, technology, just to mention a few. There is no national security threat. The union leaders shot themselves in the foot by not supporting it.”

“U.S. Steel will end up idling facilities without an infusion of cash. Nippon will make them better and force Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor to get better to keep up. If Cleveland-Cliffs ends up with their integrated facilities, it will be bad for users of those products.”

“I think Biden’s decision will hurt U.S. Steel’s finances and will lead to some mill closings and missed opportunities for upgrading U.S. Steel’s equipment and technology.”

“I expect that Mon Valley mills and their USW workers will be on the chopping block. Cliffs should put their money where their mouth was and renew the offer to buy those blast furnace facilities, including their liabilities, for a low price – and then invest like what Nippon promised.”

“U.S. Steel would be stronger with Nippon than alone.”

“I feel the Nippon Steel acquisition is good for the US and for the steel market.”

“No legal basis.”

“Nippon would keep USS facilities open and running. Someone else will cherry-pick and shut several older mills down! Very bad call in my mind!”

“This will hurt the steel industry, and future for U.S. Steel is unknown.”

“USS, as an independent entity, can’t reinvest enough in Mon Valley Works. They’ll likely have to shutter facilities.”

“Biden and USW are not thinking about the bigger picture. This will hurt union workers long term.”

Right call:

“Iconic value. U.S. Steel should stay American.”

“U.S. Steel is important to our supply base in the US.”

“We should not allow a foreign company to purchase steel mills in the US. It’s the only thing I agree on with that decrepit fool in the White House.”

Doesn’t impact me:

What about the folks who voted for “Doesn’t impact me?” They were apparently too busy to let the drama around this deal distract them. And too busy to provide much in the way of comments. (Unless you count some terse, one- to three-word answers.)

Politics as usual

These days, everything seems political. And a few comments suggested that President-elect Trump, who also opposed the deal, would probably have acted in exactly the same manner.

“Biden’s decision would be the same as Trump’s decision.”

“It is all about optics and the unions. USS is irrelevant. Trump and Biden agree on this one.”

As we all know, while the deal may have been blocked by Biden, there are still a lot of balls in the air. USS/Nippon have filed lawsuits against the US government as well as the heads of Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers (USW) union: Lourenco Goncalves and Dave McCall, respectively.

Trump will be in office on Jan. 20. And the deal hasn’t been unwound yet, with Nippon still interested in the buy. So we will see what happens, and if there is finally a final conclusion to this story.

Here at SMU, we’ll be staying tuned for every new development. We appreciate all of your support!

Tampa Steel Conference 2025

One thing you can count on in the steel industry is change. And there is no better place to keep up on those changes than the Tampa Steel Conference, which we host along with Port Tampa Bay. Running from Feb. 2-4, it’s the perfect way to shake away the winter blues and get caught up on what’s happening in the market and beyond. More than 400 participants are already joining us so far.

Interested in registering? Click here. And if you have already registered, the conference app is now available for download here.