US Steel, Nippon sue Biden over move to block $14B deal: Shameful and corrupt
US Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel on Monday sued the US government in a bid to revive their $14 billion merger after President Biden blocked the deal last week – a move US Steel’s CEO called a “shameful” capitulation to a union boss.The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington, accused Biden and senior administration officials of corrupting the deal’s review process, and harming American steel workers by blocking the deal.“Nippon Steel and US Steel are disappointed to see such a clear and improper exploitation of the country’s national security apparatus in an effort to help win an election and repay political favors,” the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.“Nippon Steel and US Steel are entitled to a fair process and have been left with no choice but to challenge the decision and the process leading to it in court.”Biden moved to block the merger on Friday after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US punted on making a decision after a yearlong review process.
The president said he was killing the merger on national security concerns.“It is my solemn responsibility as President to ensure that, now and long into the future, America has a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad,” Biden said in a statement on Friday, “and it is a fulfillment of that responsibility to block foreign ownership of this vital American company.”The president’s move to axe the deal is a major use of executive power on a heavily-politicized election year issue.His announcement came with just over two weeks left in his term.
He had previously vowed to keep US Steel American-owned, and President-elect Donald Trump pledged to crush the deal when he returns to office for his second term.US Steel and Nippon are asking CFIUS to conduct a second review of the $14 billion merger.The US steelmaker has warned that a failure to merge with the Japanese f...