Biden to block Nippon's $24b US Steel acquisition: reports
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The news: US President Joe Biden has decided to block the sale of US Steel to Japan's Nippon Steel, The Washington Post reported, citing two unnamed administration officials.
The White House will announce the decision on Friday, US time, Bloomberg reported, also citing anonymous sources.
The numbers: The two companies entered into an agreement in December 2023 for the sale of the American steel producer to Japan's largest steelmaker at a total enterprise value of USD14.9 billion ($24 billion).
The context: Biden had previously declared his opposition to the deal, saying it was "vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated". But he was yet to make a final decision on whether it would be allowed to go ahead.
Donald Trump was also opposed, vowing to block the sale both during the presidential election campaign and after his win in the November vote.
The powerful United Steelworkers union was also against the deal, but some employees of US Steel had rallied in support of a sale, saying it would help protect their jobs.
A top panel of government officials, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, notified Biden last month that it could not reach a consensus on whether the acquisition posed a national security risk and referred the decision on whether to approve or block it to the US president, CNN reported at the time.
The sources: The Washington Post, Bloomberg
