(New York) Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel will resubmit its application for government approval of the takeover of rival US Steel, a move that effectively pushes the outcome of the highly political issue back to after the US presidential election.
A source close to the case confirmed that the request had been forwarded and that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had granted it.
The commission’s mission is to study the proposed acquisition of a US entity by one or more foreign investors, in order to determine its possible implications for the national security of the United States.
She then submits her recommendations to the president, who decides.
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly publicly expressed his opposition to Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion takeover of US Steel, initially announced in December.
The president believes that the steel industry is of strategic importance to the United States, which is the world’s largest importer of steel.
He also aligned his position with that of the United Steelworkers (USW) union, even though the Japanese group has committed to maintaining employment within US Steel in the event of a takeover.
In early September, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she wanted to keep the steelmaker under American control.
His Republican opponent, Donald Trump, has also promised to thwart this operation if elected.
The issue is explosive because many of US Steel’s sites are in Pennsylvania, a key state in deciding the outcome of the presidential election.
The temperature rose further when, in early September, US Steel warned that if it failed, it would abandon massive investments to modernize several sites, which would put “thousands of jobs at risk.”
Ten days ago, the Washington Post reported that Joe Biden was preparing to prohibit this rapprochement, once the conclusions of the CFIUS were received.
White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said Tuesday that Nippon Steel’s request to resubmit its acquisition application did not constitute a “deferral.”
CFIUS had not yet provided its advice to the president, she recalled. “No decision was imminent,” the source familiar with the matter insisted.
“The position of the president and vice president is that it is vital for U.S. Steel to remain an American company, owned and operated by American interests,” Sharma said.