“Never Accept This”: Nippon Steel CEO Will Fight Biden’s Blocked US Steel Deal

Japan’s Nippon Steel CEO Eiji Hashimoto told reporters on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s decision to block its $14.9 billion acquisition of US Steel was politically motivated. Hashimoto added that the company would pursue legal action to salvage the deal.

“A review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was not properly conducted due to President Biden’s illegal intervention,” Hashimoto told reporters at a press conference in Tokyo, as quoted by Kyodo News. He emphasized: “We can never accept this.” 

Hashimoto’s comments came one day after Nippon Steel filed a petition in Washington, DC, arguing that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States did not consider the deal on national security grounds and that Biden’s block was based on “purely political reasons.”

The executive continued, ”There is no reason — or need — to give up on this deal,” adding, ”I have no thoughts of alternative plans.”

Nippon and US Steel also filed a lawsuit against rival steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs, its CEO Lourenco Goncalves, and United Steelworkers President David McCall. The suit alleges coordinated anticompetitive and racketeering activities aimed at sabotaging Nippon’s acquisition of US Steel, thereby allowing Cleveland-Cliffs to acquire US Steel. 

“We firmly believe that the various facts that will come to light through the litigation will demonstrate that this decision clearly violated the constitution and laws,” Hashimoto said.

A multi-month court battle in the era of Trump 2.0 will likely follow. President-elect Donald Trump has also voiced his opposition to the takeover. 

On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: ”Why would they want to sell US Steel now when tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company? Wouldn’t it be nice to have US Steel, once the greatest company in the world, lead the charge toward greatness again?”

Hashimoto pointed out that the deal aligns with Trump’s ‘MAGA’ policies by boosting domestic investments in US manufacturing. 

David Plotinsky, partner at the Morgan Lewis law firm, told the Financial Times that Nippon Steel and US Steel’s challenge to the Cfius process would be a significant “uphill battle” of what the federal government can classify as national security risks. 

However, Plotinsky noted that “the government is faced with some genuinely bad facts in this case…” 

Meanwhile, Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), expressed grave concern about Japanese businesses’ investment sentiment in the US following Biden’s nuking of the deal.  

“We’re very concerned that this kind of decision will impact US-Japan economic relations. It’s regrettable that America, which has been promoting an open and free trade and investment environment, has made such a decision,” Tokura said.