Its main argument: the defense of American “workers”. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, fiercely opposed the takeover of the national group United States Steel (US Steel) by the Japanese Nippon Steel. “US Steel has been an iconic company for more than a century, and it is vital that it remains an American company, controlled and managed from the United States,” said the Democrat in a press release, published this Friday, March 15.
“It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies, operated by American workers,” he insisted. This is the first time that the Democratic leader has spoken so clearly on the fate of the group. Until now, the White House had simply indicated that the proposed acquisition mounted by Nippon Steel required “thorough review”, given the central role of US Steel in the production of steel, essential to national security.
For the current candidate for his own succession, in addition to the crucial issue of industrial sovereignty, the upcoming presidential election weighs heavily in this choice. US Steel’s headquarters are in Pennsylvania, a swing state where the results will be decisive in the final election. This state in the northeast of the United States was won by Donald Trump in 2016, but it was Joe Biden who won it in 2020. At that date, however, the gap was very slim and the current president l won by just over 80,000 votes.
Unions “reassured”
For once, his rival Donald Trump also maintained that he would block the takeover of US Steel if he returned to the White House. The two candidates “are seeking the support of unions which could make the difference in the crucial ‘swing states'”, underlines Thibault Denamiel, researcher at the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS), interviewed by AFP. Unions, including the powerful United Steelworkers International, which, since the announcement of the operation in December 2023, have increased protests. Joe Biden’s latest remarks, rejecting the Japanese offer, however, “reassured” them.
Hope remains for these unions, which had approved the offer of an American competitor of US Steel, Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), which envisaged a total union in 2023 to form the only American steelmaker in the top 10 in the world by volume of production (31 million tonnes). However, this proposal was rejected by US Steel. This Friday, March 15, the boss of CLF said he was in favor of proposing a new offer – however at a price much lower than that of the Japanese.