Agreeing with Vance, Biden Likely to Block Takeover of U.S. Steel

President Joe Biden is likely to announce his decision to block the pending acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The acquisition has proved politically controversial, with both presidential candidates—Kamala Harris and Donald Trump—arguing that U.S. Steel should remain an American-owned company. Further strong opposition has come from Ohio’s Senator J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, who in May of this year sent a letter—along with Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Marco Rubio (R-FL)—urging President Biden to block the acquisition:

By law you possess the authority to block the sale of U.S. Steel unilaterally under the Defense Production Act, 50 U.S.C. § 4565(d), or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1702(a), when a national emergency is declared. You may exercise these powers now.

U.S. Steel is currently headquartered in Pittsburgh, Vance’s home state and the setting of his bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy, which portrayed the disastrous social consequences of the region’s deindustrialization on the social fabric of his family and community.

While Nippon Steel has pledged to invest $2.7 billion into refurbishing the Ohio steel mills operated by U.S. Steel and promised to argue current collective bargaining agreements with workers, critics have warned that the deal may put at risk thousands of American manufacturing jobs and an industry vitally necessary to American national security.

The likely beneficiary of a Biden cancellation of the deal is the American steel maker Cleveland-Cliffs, which lost the bid for the company to Nippon Steel late last year.