President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Monday night that he would block a Japanese company’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel upon taking office, declaring that he would not allow the iconic American business to be owned by a foreign firm.
The assertion reiterated sentiments Mr. Trump expressed on the campaign trail this year, but it was his first time weighing in on the transaction since winning the presidential election last month. Some analysts had expected that there could be a way forward for the deal after the political pressure subsided, but Mr. Trump’s remarks suggested that there would be little chance for it to close.
“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “As President, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had also indicated this year that they opposed Nippon’s $15 billion bid for U.S. Steel, and the White House had appeared poised to block the transaction in September ahead of the election. Amid concerns that the review process was being politicized, the Biden administration agreed to grant a request by Nippon to resubmit its filing with the agency running the review, which is the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS (pronounced SIFF-ee-yuhs).
That decision gave the two steel makers an additional three months to convince the U.S. government that the transaction did not pose a threat to national security, amid concerns from both Democrats and Republicans. That period was about to expire next week, forcing the Biden administration to grant the companies another extension or to make a decision about the fate of the deal.
Mr. Trump said on Monday that his economic plan would ensure that U.S. Steel remained strong on its own without the promised investments from Nippon Steel.
