Steel Mills
Trump says Nippon will 'invest heavily' in USS rather than buy it
Written by Michael Cowden
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 Reuters, for example, reported after the event that Nippon Steel had not withdrawn its bid for U.S. Steel.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
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Mills
August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.
TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.
Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.
AISI: Raw steel production ticks back down
US raw steel output declined last week after increasing the week prior, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Output has see-sawed from week to week since mid-August. Still, it has remained historically strong over the past four months and has held near multi-year highs since June. Domestic mills […]