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Trump says Nippon will 'invest heavily' in USS rather than buy it

February 9, 2025

Nippon Steel has agreed to “invest heavily in U.S. Steel as opposed to own it,” President Donald Trump said on Friday during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

U.S. Steel is “a very important company” and was once “the greatest company in the world”. Of potential foreign ownership of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, Trump said, “the concept, psychologically, not good.”

Ishiba echoed Trump’s comments about a major investment. “It is not an acquisition, it is investment,” the prime minister said, according to a translation of his remarks.

The leaders’ comments have been widely reported by mainstream media outlets. You can also find a transcript of the press conference posted by Roll Call here.

Trump and Ishiba did not provide specifics of what a Nippon Steel investment in U.S. Steel might look like.

And it was not entirely clear where things stood with the proposed nearly $15-billion acquisition of USS by Nippon after the press conference. Reuters, for example, reported after the event that Nippon Steel had not withdrawn its bid for U.S. Steel.

Background

Recall that Trump loudly opposed Nippon Steel acquiring U.S. Steel as he courted support from the United Steelworkers (USW) while on the campaign trail.

The USW greeted news of the potential investment by Nippon with caution. “While we await the details of the proposed investment, we encourage President Trump to continue safeguarding the long-term future of the domestic steel industry by instead seeking American alternatives,” USW International President David McCall said in a statement on Friday.

Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves has also opposed the proposed Nippon acquisition. He has said his company still wants to pursue a deal with U.S. Steel. (He has also repeatedly bashed Japan.)

Bedrock Industries CEO Alan Kestenbaum – who sold Canadian steelmaker Stelco to Cliffs – has in addition expressed interest in U.S. Steel. He said during an SMU Community Chat in January that he wanted to “make U.S. Steel great again.”

Tariffs

Trump touched on the issue of tariffs during the press conference with Ishiba. He said the US would probably agree to “reciprocal tariffs” with Japan. The president said details might be announced on Monday or Tuesday.

The guiding principle? “A country pays so much or charges us so much, and we do the same,” Trump said.

Ishiba said consultations with the US on tariffs would continue. “If it is mutually beneficial, tariffs need to be set,” he added.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.