Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus

WASHINGTON — A powerful government panel on Monday failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of a nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. Steel, leaving a decision to President Joe Biden, a longtime opponent of the deal. Biden, backed by the United Steelworkers, said earlier this year that it was “vital for to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.” Trump has also opposed the acquisition and vowed earlier this month on his Truth Social platform to “block this deal from happening.” Trump proposed to revive U.S. Steel’s flagging fortunes “through a series of Tax Incentives and Tariffs.” The steelworkers union has said it doesn’t believe Nippon Steel would keep jobs at unionized plants, make good on collectively bargained benefits or protect American steel production from cheap foreign imports. U.S. Steel said in a statement Monday that the deal “is the best way, by far, to ensure that U.S. Steel, including its employees, communities, and customers, will thrive well into the future.” A growing number of conservatives had publicly backed the deal, as Nippon Steel began to win over some steelworkers union members and local officials around its blast furnaces in Pennsylvania and Indiana. Nippon Steel pledged to invest $2.7 billion in United Steelworkers-represented facilities, including U.S. Steel’s blast furnaces, and promised not to import steel slabs that would compete with the blast furnaces.