Financial Times
The Financial Times has a media bias rating of Center. The Times is an international newspaper that focuses on business and economic reporting.
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Joe Biden plans to intervene in Nippon Steel’s proposed purchase of US Steel, a move that could threaten the deal and anger Japan, one of Washington’s closest allies.
Biden will issue a statement expressing serious concern about the Japanese group’s proposed $14.9bn acquisition of the Pennsylvania-headquartered steelmaker before Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a state visit in Washington on April 10, according to six people familiar with the decision.
US officials and lawyers have drafted the statement and the White House has privately informed the Japanese government of the president’s decision, according to people familiar with the matter. US Steel’s shares fell more than 12 per cent after the Financial Times published details of Biden’s intentions.
The expression of concern will be interpreted as opposition to the takeover and marks the culmination of months of White House debate about how to respond to a deal that has sparked a bipartisan backlash in Washington against the sale of a US manufacturing icon to a foreign group.
Although US law gives the administration the power to block certain foreign acquisitions on national security grounds, Biden will not say outright that the deal should be blocked, according to people familiar with the matter. Instead, they say he will issue similar comments to remarks made in December from White House by national economic adviser Lael Brainard, who said the president believed the deal deserved “serious scrutiny”. Pennsylvania is a crucial electoral swing state in this year’s presidential election between Biden and Donald Trump. Both men have courted union votes in the state and Trump has already lashed out against Nippon Steel‘s “horrible” deal to buy the Pittsburgh-based American producer. The United Steelworkers union, also based in Pittsburgh, has opposed the takeover. Nippon Steel announced the controversial acquisition in December, leading Biden to pick a side between a powerful union and its voters, and a critical American ally. The president has invested heavily in shoring up alliances, particularly with Japan.