US Steel also called on Biden to approve the deal, noting that Nippon is based in “one of the United States’ closest allies” and describing the transaction as a means to “combat the competitive threat from China”.
The Nippon deal is “the best way, by far, to ensure that US Steel, including its employees, communities, and customers, will thrive well into the future”, US Steel said.
Nippon has argued that the transaction would pump much-needed capital to update plants in Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley, the oldest of which dates to 1875.
The company has described the transaction as a lifeline to Pennsylvania’s much-diminished steel industry, vowing to keep US Steel’s headquarters in Pittsburgh.
But the USW union has characterised Nippon’s commitments as untrustworthy, while slamming US Steel executives as being motivated by the huge windfalls they would likely make from the sale.
“The proposed US Steel-Nippon transaction represents nothing more than corporate greed, selling out American workers and jeopardising the long-term future of the domestic steel industry and our national security,” USW President David McCall said Monday as he urged Biden to block the transaction.
