U.S. Steel – The News Desk

Xenophobia Drives Foes of Nippon Steel’s Deal

1Jan

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Health

Xenophobia Drives Foes of Nippon Steel’s Deal

Election-year jitters have the Biden administration and a few swing-state members of Congress from both parties parroting union concerns about Nippon Steel’s takeover of U.S. Steel. The United Steelworkers union favored Cleveland-Cliffs’s offer, which was almost 50% lower than Nippon’s $14.1 billion bid. There is no real cause for concern other than xenophobia and the damage it could do to Cleveland-Cliffs’s position as the sole U.S. producer of electrical steel for transformers and electric vehicles. The rest is imported.Nippon’s steelmaking is at least as advanced as U.S. Steel’s, so technology export control isn’t an issue. National security could be a concern if American mills were shutting down due to unfairly subsidized Japanese exports to the U.S. But Nippon never used gimmicks to ...

23Dec

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Health

Biden’s Foolish Snub of Nippon Steel

Nippon Steel’s proposed $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel “appears to deserve serious scrutiny,” the White House said Thursday. The statement came after an outcry from protectionist lawmakers, including Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), who have cited union and national-security concerns and vowed to block the sale. The anti-Japanese business rhetoric is reminiscent of the 1980s, when U.S.-Japan trade tensions threatened to undermine a critically important bilateral alliance during the Cold War.U.S. politicians’ unjustified criticisms of the deal could strain relations between the U.S. and Japan and weaken their collaboration on trade and economic security. The White House should work with allies on economic and military cooperation, not criticize them.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Com...

23Dec

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Health

The Nippon Steel Protectionists – WSJ

The news that Japan’s Nippon Steel will purchase U.S. Steel has sent much of Washington into a political fit, and President Biden is now registering his great concern, teeing up a government investment committee to review the sale. Public service reminder: Japan is arguably America’s most important ally as a bulwark against China.The White House on Thursday dispatched national economic adviser Lael Brainard to float a review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius. The statement called U.S. Steel “a core component” of domestic steel production that is “critical to our national security.” Ms. Brainard also tossed an encomium to the United Steelworkers union: “President Biden believes union workers are the best workers in the world.”Copyright ©2023 ...