Steel Mills

White House confirms use of 'golden share' to intervene at Granite City: Report

Written by Ethan Bernard

September 26, 2025

The White House confirmed it stepped in to block the halting of steel processing at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works in Illinois, according to media reports.

“The administration did intervene to block U.S. Steel’s decision to idle the Granite City Works plant, with the threat of the president invoking his golden share authority,” the White House said, according to an AP article on Sept. 22.

The Trump administration’s “golden share,” which gives the president certain decision powers regarding issues such as production and employment, was a key factor in the intervention, the article said.

Recall that the golden share was one of the provisions needed for the White House to approve Japanese steelmaker Nippon’s partnership with U.S. Steel.

A separate report in Reuters on Thursday said some daylight has opened up between the White House and Nippon regarding the use of that share.

“There is minor difference in views regarding the national security agreements and the authority of the golden share,” Nippon Steel President Tadashi Imai told reporters, according to the article.

This was in reference to the recent actions at Granite City.

SMU has reported on this previously, before the White House confirmed the action. For background, click here.

When asked about the recent interactions with the White House, a USS spokesperson told SMU: “The Trump administration is a great friend to the American steel industry, and we have ongoing positive and productive conversations with them on a variety of topics, but we do not plan to discuss the details of any of those conversations.”

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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