Biden voices opposition to US Steel's sale to Japanese firm
President Biden said Thursday he is against U.S. Steel being sold to a foreign entity, making his position known three months after the announcement that the iconic American company reached a deal to be purchased by Japan's Nippon Steel.
"It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers," the president said in a statement released by the White House.
"I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it," Biden's statement continued. "U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated."
The White House did not respond to FOX Business' question about whether the president plans to move to block the deal, which is currently under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS).
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Nippon Steel announced Dec. 18 it would buy U.S. Steel in a $14.9 billion deal, which has faced fierce pushback from labor unions and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.
Former President Trump, who is making another White House run challenging Biden, came out against the U.S. Steel-Nippon deal in late January.
"I would block it instantaneously. Absolutely," Trump said after a meeting with the president of the Teamsters labor union, according to a Politico report at the time. "We saved the steel industry. Now, U.S. Steel is being bought by Japan. So terrible."
United Steelworkers (USW) union President David McCall told FOX Business' Lydia Hu last week he believes Biden has held off on announcing he would block the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon because the president "does not want to short-circuit the civil procedure."
"I think, before he makes a decision on that, the administration – the Treasury and some other departments within the government – have to do their review," said McCall, whose union is adamantly opposed to the deal. "And I think before he makes a decision on that, he probably wants their advice."
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The USW hailed Biden's statement on Thursday, saying the union's members are "grateful for his unfailing support and his ongoing commitment to advancing the interests of working families and their communities."