President Donald Trump said Friday that Japan’s Nippon Steel will “invest heavily” in U.S. Steel rather than continue to pursue an outright purchase.
Former President Joe Biden blocked the nearly $15 billion sale to Nippon in his final months in office, following a recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. At the time, Trump also opposed the deal, arguing that U.S. Steel should be owned by an American company.
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“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,” he wrote on social media at the time.
Trump, speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at a press conference, stated that Nippon has “agreed to invest heavily in U.S. Steel, as opposed to own it,” adding that the administration would be meeting with Nippon representatives next week.
“It sounds very exciting,” the president continued. “They’ll work out the details. I’ll help. I’ll be there to mediate and arbitrate.”
The president said earlier in the day that he had not yet finalized a decision on allowing the sale to proceed but told reporters he would continue discussing the issue. His comments came as CBS News reported Trump was mulling allowing Nippon Steel to complete its acquisition of U.S. Steel, which is headquartered in swing-state Pennsylvania.
“I think we’re going to be discussing that today,” Trump said Friday. “I heard we might have some pretty good information on that.”
Ishiba added, through a translator, that he would like to see Japanese companies increase investments in the U.S.
Nippon and U.S. Steel have taken to the U.S. court system in an effort to vacate Biden’s blocking of their proposed deal.
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A senior Japanese government official told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that the country will “wait and see about the possible judgment or outcome.”
“Our foreign minister expressed his concerns among Japanese and U.S. business communities after this decision was made by former President Biden — many Japanese and American industry [leaders] expressed their great concerns about the possible impact on the future investment of Japan in America and vice versa,” that official said. “So he clearly asked Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio to address these concerns expressed by the Japanese business community.”