Trump Expresses Desire to Keep US Steel Corp Out of Japanese Hands
“We don’t want to see it go to Japan,” Trump stated on Wednesday, further expressing, “We love Japan.”
On April 9, President Donald Trump expressed his disapproval regarding the potential transfer of U.S. Steel Corp to Japan, indicating he may not endorse the bid from Japan’s Nippon Steel for the American steel company.
Following Trump’s latest remarks, U.S. Steel shares fell by 13 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
“We don’t want to see it go to Japan,” Trump reiterated on Wednesday, adding, “We love Japan.”
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“We don’t want it to go to Japan or anywhere else, and we are collaborating with them,” the president remarked.
The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for clarification regarding the administration’s position on the merger but did not receive a response prior to publication.
After Biden’s decision to block the merger, U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel initiated a lawsuit against the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, claiming that the former president influenced the committee’s ruling and infringed upon their right to a fair evaluation.
Since its announcement in December 2023, the merger has faced criticism from both sides of the political aisle, particularly as both Trump and Biden were initially set to face off again in the November 2024 election. Prior to Biden’s exit from the race last July, both had pledged to obstruct U.S. Steel’s sale.
Others, including local officials in steel-producing states like Pennsylvania and Indiana, have supported the deal, expressing concerns about job losses without new investment.
The two companies contended that Biden opposed the merger as a means to gain backing from the United Steelworkers union in Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel’s headquarters is located. The Biden administration defended its scrutiny of the merger as essential for safeguarding national security, infrastructure, and supply chains.
In March, the Trump administration filed a motion to extend two deadlines in the lawsuit, allowing the government additional time to finalize merger discussions with the companies.
Later on Monday, both the administration and the companies requested an appeals court to pause the case until June 5, to give the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States the opportunity to reassess the merger, noting that this process could potentially “fully resolve” the firms’ claims.
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
Chase Smith and Reuters contributed to this report.
