International Steel Mills

Japanese PM cites 'unjust political interference' in Nippon/USS deal: Report

Written by Ethan Bernard

February 17, 2025

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday that former President Joe Biden’s decision to block Nippon Steel’s buy of U.S. Steel was “unjust political interference,” according to a report in Reuters.

This comes after another Reuters report on Friday saying that President Trump would not object to Nippon taking a minority stake in the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker.

(Recall that President Trump has long been opposed to the sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese steelmaker Nippon.)

However, a Bloomberg article claimed that both USS and Nippon were “blindsided” by the president’s comments regarding the minority stake.

The companies have remained committed to saving the nearly $15-billion deal.

Ongoing lawsuits

These latest twists and turns come as two lawsuits brought by Nippon/USS are proceeding in the US.

The opening brief in the Nippon/USS lawsuit against the US government was filed earlier this month.

It laid out the allegation that President Biden’s decision was motivated by “political” considerations.

Additionally, that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) review was not carried out in good faith.

A second lawsuit targets Cleveland-Cliffs’ Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves, as well as United Steelworkers (USW) International President David McCall. 

Nippon/USS claim Cliffs and the USW illegally coordinated to undermine the USS/Nippon deal.

Both Cliffs and the USW filed motions earlier this month to have that case dismissed.

This all comes under the backdrop of a June deadline to unwind the deal. Before leaving office, the Biden administration extended that deadline until June 18.

A spokesperson for Nippon declined to comment for this article.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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