Islamabad, Sep 11: According to a person familiar with the situation, a top Nippon Steel executive is scheduled to meet with senior US authorities on Wednesday in an attempt to salvage the company’s $14.9 billion bid for US Steel.
Along with other officials, the meeting is expected to include Takahiro Mori, one of the deal’s main negotiators, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, and Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves, the person said, declining to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the subject.
Both Nippon Steel and the Treasury Department, which is in charge of the US Committee on Foreign Investment, declined to comment. Requests for comment were not immediately answered by US Steel, the White House, or the Commerce Department.
On Wednesday, a number of US industry associations also expressed concern that political pressure is having an undue impact on the Biden administration’s national security assessment of Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9 billion takeover of US Steel.
CFIUS is a strong body that assesses foreign investments for potential threats to national security. As first reported by Reuters, it sent a letter to the businesses in late August warning them that their intended tie-up would undermine the US steel supply chain, so endangering US national security and seemingly dooming the proposed transaction.
In response, the firms argued in a 100-page document that Reuters has obtained, arguing that the merger would boost US steel output by providing a much needed financial infusion into a faltering American company in a vital industry by a corporation in an ally nation.
The meeting also takes place in the midst of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump’s united opposition to the agreement. They are fighting for control of Pennsylvania, the pivotal swing state and home to US Steel’s headquarters.
