A growing number of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have come out against the $14.9 billion acquisition of 122-year-old United States Steel Corporation by Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC).

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) pledged to prevent the Japanese steelmaker from purchasing U.S. Steel, calling it “absolutely outrageous” because the material is about the country’s national and economic security.”

“I’m gonna do everything I can to block it,” Mr. Fetterman said on X, previously known as Twitter. “It’s absolutely outrageous that U.S. Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company. Steel is always about security—both our national security and the economic security of our steel communities. I am committed to doing anything I can do, using my platform and my position, to block this foreign sale.”

In a video recorded from the roof of his home across from the steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, Mr. Fetterman vowed not to allow the Steelworkers to “be screwed over or left behind.” He vowed to collaborate with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) “to fight like hell to make this right.”

Mr. Fetterman told The Epoch Times that the company did not inform the union or himself before making the deal public and he interprets that lack of communication to mean the company is willing to burn bridges, and that company executives likely have golden parachutes waiting upon their exits.

Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Epoch Times he agrees with Mr. Fetterman. “I think we need to give it a very thorough look and intense scrutiny, as a potential threat to our national security,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) joined the chorus of lawmakers voicing their opposition to the U.S. Steel acquisition, noting that he “warned of this outcome months ago.”

“Today, a critical piece of America’s defense industrial base was auctioned off to foreigners for cash,” Mr. Vance said in a statement. “U.S. Steel announced the sale by celebrating the ‘certain and immediate value’ to be delivered to its shareholders. But rest assured that I will interrogate the long-term implications for the American people, and I will do everything in my power to protect the future of our nation’s security, industry, and workers.”

Mr. Vance told The Epoch Times that does not make a lot of sense to sell one of America’s largest steel producers to a Japanese conglomerate at a time when we are reshoring America’s industrial supply chains.

“I love Japan. It's a beautiful country. It's got great people and they are one of our most important allies, but it's still not in America and fundamentally, Japan is in China's sphere of influence,” Mr. Vance said. He does not see the move as good for U.S. citizens.

In a Dec. 19 letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is also the chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, Mr. Vance and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) expressed their concerns about the deal, calling it “a turning point for an icon of American industry.” They warned that it presents “dire implications” for the nation’s industrial base.

The letter also emphasized national security concerns, arguing that domestic steel production and preserving the U.S. steel sector are “vital” to the country’s national security.

Mr. Vance and Mr. Hawley added that trade protections employed over the last 40 years to enhance the steel industry should facilitate foreign investment that bolsters U.S. output and increases American jobs. But the latest corporate takeover “is out of step with those goals.”

“Allowing foreign companies to buy out American companies and enjoy our trade protections subverts the very purpose for which those protections were put in place,” the lawmakers said.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) weighed in and does not believe foreign firms should be able to ignore workers and acquire U.S. steel “behind closed doors.” Instead, Mr. Brown says, a pro-union American firm, like Cleveland-Cliffs, should buy the U.S. steel manufacturing titan.

“A foreign company should not be able to swoop in, ignore the voices of union workers, and buy a major American steel manufacturer behind closed doors,” he said in a statement. “Nippon and U.S. Steel have insulted American steelworkers by refusing to give them a seat at the table and raised grave concerns about their commitment to the future of the American steel industry.”

In August, Cleveland-Cliffs proposed a cash-and-share bid, valuing U.S. Steel at $7.25 billion, a 43 percent premium at the time. The century-old giant rejected the offer as “unreasonable.”

Regulatory Review

The sale is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2024, pending approval by U.S. Steel’s shareholders, receipt of customary regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions, the company said in a statement. But the transaction could be delayed by a regulatory review, which was suggested during the daily White House press briefing after press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the sale.

“Given this could potentially be a regulatory review, I'm not going to speak to any specifics of this transaction, and will be very careful. But what I can do is speak about it more broadly,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said. “Steel workers' commitment to protecting American manufacturing that supports family-sustaining union jobs, it's something that the President supports.”

She added that President Biden is committed to competition, because it means lower costs for consumers and higher wages for workers.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) also expects Congress to take a closer look at the deal before it happens.

“U.S. Steel has been an iconic American company for many decades,” Mr. Kelly told The Epoch Times. “Steel is important for our national security, so it'll go through a process and ultimately, I imagine that Congress will have to make a decision.”

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) says he is concerned about the deal.

“The steel industry is an all-American industry and critical for American manufacturing,” Mr. Peters told The Epoch Times. “Just on the face of it, clearly, it's not a positive.”