Trump vows to block Japanese steelmaker from buying US Steel; pledges tax incentives, tariffs

Harrisburg , President-elect Donald Trump is underscoring his intention to block the purchase of US Steel by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp, and he’s pledging to use tax incentives and tariffs to strengthen the iconic American steelmaker.

Trump had vowed early in the presidential campaign that he would “instantaneously” block the deal, and he reiterated that sentiment in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday night.

“I am totally against the once great and powerful US Steel being bought by a foreign company” and will use tax incentives and tariffs to make US Steel “Strong and Great Again, and it will happen FAST!” he wrote.

“As President,” he continued, “I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”

President Joe Biden, like Trump, also opposes Nippon Steel’s purchase of Pittsburgh-based US Steel. Biden’s White House in September said that it had yet to see a report from the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which was reviewing the transaction for national security concerns. The committee, which is chaired by the treasury secretary and includes other Cabinet members, can recommend that the president block a transaction, and federal law gives the president that power.

Ahead of the November election, the proposed merger carried political importance in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state that Trump eventually won. Biden publicly sided with the United Steelworkers, the labour union, in seeking to reject the deal.

When he announced his opposition in a March statement, Biden said: “US Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.”

Nippon Steel has said it is the only company that can make the necessary investment in US Steel’s factories and strengthen the American steel industry. Both Nippon Steel and US Steel on Tuesday released statements in support of the acquisition.

“This transaction should be approved on its merits. The benefits are overwhelmingly clear. Our communities, customers, investors, and employees strongly support this transaction, and we will continue to advocate for them and adherence to the rule of law,” US Steel said.

The deal follows a long stretch of protectionist US tariffs that analysts say has helped reinvigorate domestic steel, including US Steel. US Steel’s shareholders have approved the deal, but the United Steelworkers oppose it.

In a statement Tuesday, the union said the deal carries “serious long-term implications for US economic and national security”.

“It’s clear that President Trump understands the vital role a strong domestic steel industry plays in our national security, as well as the importance of the jobs and communities the industry supports,” the union said.

The deal has drawn bipartisan opposition in the US Senate, including from the incoming vice president, Republican Sen JD Vance of Ohio, although the federal government’s objections to the deal have drawn criticism that the opposition is political.

Some US Steel workers would prefer Nippon Steel acquire the company, given that it appears to have a better financial balance sheet than another potential buyer, Cleveland-Cliffs.

US Steel “provided a very, very good life for our families for a lot of years,” said Jack Maskil, a vice president at the Steelworkers local branch in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. “And we feel that with the Nippon deal that a lot more families for futures to come will be able to share the same.”

West Mifflin Mayor Chris Kelly said he met with Nippon Steel executives and found himself satisfied by their commitments. Located southeast of Pittsburgh, West Mifflin is home to US Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant.

“There’s no question in my mind that it’s the best deal moving forward,” Kelly said at a panel hosted on Tuesday by the conservative think tank Hudson Institute, where Maskil was also speaking.

Trump’s statement came two weeks after Nippon Steel’s vice chairman, Takahiro Mori, visited Pittsburgh and Washington to meet with lawmakers, local officials and workers in an ongoing persuasion campaign.

That campaign has included Nippon Steel’s promises to boost its capital commitments beyond the original deal and, more recently, a pledge that it won’t import steel slabs that would compete with US Steel’s blast furnaces.

As part of its proposed $14.9 billion purchase of US Steel, Nippon Steel also pledged to invest at least $1.4 billion in USW-represented facilities, not to conduct layoffs or plant closings during the term of the basic labour agreement, and to protect the best interests of US Steel in trade matters. SCY SCY

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