Nippon Steel to meet US officials over US Steel buyout plan

A Nippon Steel Corp. executive will meet with senior U.S. government officials in a last-ditch effort to advance its plan to acquire United States Steel Corp., which Washington is seeking to block, According to Kyodo News.

Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori is expected to hold talks in Washington with members of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which investigates potential national security risks associated with inbound investment deals, the sources said.

The move comes as President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly in the final stages of blocking a $14.1 billion acquisition of the Pittsburgh-based company by Japan’s largest steelmaker.

US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump also oppose the proposed takeover by Nippon Steel.

Biden set to block Japanese Nippon Steel takeover of US Steel

Both US Steel, founded in 1901, and the United Steelworkers union are based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of the main battlegrounds in the November 5 presidential election.

The powerful union, which has supported Harris, strongly opposes the deal.

Nippon Steel has sought to withdraw its application to CFIUS, with the intention of resubmitting after the presidential election, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

CFIUS has concluded that the procurement agreement poses security risks that cannot be mitigated by Nippon Steel, although the State Department and the Defense Department disagree with the conclusion, the newspaper reported earlier.

“From the start of the regulatory review process, we have been clear with the administration that we do not believe this transaction creates any national security concerns,” the Japanese company said in a statement issued on Sept. 5 following reports that Biden would block the deal.