Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel closes, with big role for Trump

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Eiji Hashimoto, Nippon Steel’s Chairman and CEO, thanked Trump for his role, adding that "Nippon Steel is excited about opening a new chapter of U. S. Steel’s storied history." The golden share gives the U.S. government veto authority over a raft of corporate decisions, from idling plants to cutting production capacity and moving jobs overseas, as previewed in a weekend social media post by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The measures represent an unusual level of control conceded by the companies to the government to save the deal, after a rocky path to approval spurred by high-level political opposition.
Nippon Steel said its annual crude steel production capacity is expected to reach 86 million tons, bringing it closer to Nippon Steel’s global strategic goal of 100 million tons of global crude steel production capacity. The inclusion of the golden share to win approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which scrutinizes foreign investment for national security risks, could drive overseas investors away from U.S. companies, national security lawyers said on Monday. After the United Steelworkers union came out against the deal last year, both then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, expressed their opposition as they sought to woo voters in Pennsylvania, a key swing state, in the presidential election campaign. Shortly before leaving office in January, Biden blocked the deal on national security grounds, prompting lawsuits by the companies, which argued the national security review they received was biased.
The Biden White House disputed the charge. The steel companies saw a new opportunity in the Trump administration, which opened a fresh 45-day national security review into the proposed merger in April.