Nippon Steel is receiving support for the purchase of US Steel in regions of the United States where steel plants are located, the Japanese group’s president, Tadashi Imai, told reporters on Wednesday.
On Monday, a US foreign investment committee forwarded the decision to approve or block the $15 billion deal to the country’s president, Joe Biden, who has 15 days to decide on the future of the transaction. Biden and his successor, Donald Trump, are against the deal.
On Wednesday, Imai reiterated that Nippon Steel has made a series of commitments to address the national security concerns of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, adding that he believes there is “progress in understanding.”
“In the communities in the various regions where the steel plants are located, there is a considerable amount of support for this acquisition,” Imai said. “I hope President Biden understands… the value of this acquisition to the U.S. economy.”
Both companies previously said they planned to complete the deal, which also faced opposition from the United Steelworkers (USW) metalworkers union, before the end of this year.
On Wednesday, Nippon Steel shared a letter to Biden dated December 23 and signed by two dozen U.S. municipal officials in areas where U.S. Steel plants are located, calling on the U.S. president to approve the acquisition deal. .
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“We respectfully ask that you listen to the voices of steelworkers and all those whose economic security is tied to US Steel – they are speaking loudly and in unison that this agreement must be approved,” the letter says.
The USW said in a separate statement that it met with Nippon Steel officials twice last week. The group repeated its view that the Japanese steel group has no interest in the long-term security of US Steel’s plants or blast furnace operations and called on Biden to keep the company as US-owned and operated in the US.
In order to gain support for the acquisition, Nippon Steel previously said it will not use its purchase of US Steel to import steel into the US and has made a series of promises to protect jobs and invest in US facilities it considers essential to its future growth.
