Biden Opposition to Takeover of U.S. Steel Comes After Months of Lobbying

Subscribe to a bundle to unlock all coverage by Caixin Global and the WSJ.

(The Wall Street Journal) — President Biden’s decision to oppose Nippon Steel’s attempt to buy United States Steel on Thursday was the culmination of months of agitation against the deal.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers had called for the Biden administration to use national-security powers to block the $14.1 billion deal. The United Steelworkers union blasted it. Former President Donald Trump promised to scuttle it if he wins a second term. With the political pressure mounting, Biden signaled his opposition to the deal without explicitly saying he would block it.

“U.S. 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,” the president said on Thursday.

Behind the scenes, a company with more bottom-line considerations is helping orchestrate the populist revolt. Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs had also tried to buy U.S. Steel last year, and now confronts the prospect of a competitor vastly strengthened by Nippon Steel’s deep pockets and close ties to Japanese automakers.