Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel is reviewing the US Steel US Steel’s proposal and will adopt a different approach, Japan’s government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
“Nippon Steel believes this is not just a simple purchase, but a bold investment to produce excellent products that not only the United States, but the whole world demand, and is studying a bold proposal that can be mutually beneficial to Japan and the US, ”Hayashi said at a press conference.
Comments come after the new US President Donald Trump said on Friday during a press conference after a meeting in Washington with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, which Nippon Steel would remove the purchase offer From US Steel, instead would invest in the company.
On Sunday, Trump went further by ensuring that Japanese steelmaker will not acquire a majority participation in the American company.
Ishiba said on Sunday, on the sunday debate program of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, that US Steel would remain an American companywithout providing specific details.
“US Steel was once the number one company in the world. There is a strong resistance to which it is acquired and becomes a Japanese company, ”said Ishiba. He added: “It is very important for President Trump to be an investment and not just an acquisition, which remains a US company.”
About a month ago, the United States extended until June 18 the deadline imposed on Nippon Steel to withdraw US Steel’s acquisition proposal after companies filed a lawsuit.
On January 6, Nippon Steel and US Steel had announced a lawsuit against the administration of then-US president Joe Biden for “illegal interference” in the acquisition process.
On January 3, Biden announced the decision to block the operation for national security reasons and to ensure that “the United States has a national steel industry.”
Nippon Steel will contest Biden’s decision to block US Steel’s acquisition
“This acquisition would put one of the major American steel producers under foreign control and would have created risks for our national security and our essential supply chains,” Biden said in a statement.
The decision was announced after the United States (CFIUS) committee in December (CFIUS), a federal agency chaired by the Treasury Department, sent the issue to Biden.
The US Metalworkers Union had expressed its firm opposition to the merger, an operation valued at almost $ 15 billion (14.6 billion euros), while Nippon Steel considered it a board of salvation for an industrial sector in difficulties.
Source: https://observador.pt/2025/02/10/nippon-steel-esta-a-rever-proposta-de-aquisicao-da-us-steel/
