British media Biden supports the investigation of Japanese companies' plans to buy American steel
Bu Xiaoming. According to the Financial Times on the 21st, Joseph Biden of the United States supports the investigation into Nippon Steel's plan to acquire U.S. Steel.
Lyle Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on the 21st that Biden believes that the acquisition of U.S. Steel by a foreign entity, "even if it is an acquisition by a close ally, seems to be subject to serious supervision", on the grounds that this acquisition may affect "the reliability of the United States and the United States."
U.S. Steel has factories in Pennsylvania and Michigan. According to the analysis of the Financial Times, Biden's above statement may be to win the votes of these two states.
Brainard said the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment was created to approve "that kind of deal."
The United Steelworkers welcomed Biden's involvement in the matter. The union supported Biden in the 2020 election.
Despite Nippon Steel's pledge to respect all collective bargaining agreements reached between U.S. Steel and the unions, the takeover was resisted by the unions. The union said it lacked confidence that the collective bargaining agreement was upheld. However, according to the agreement between the United Steelworkers and U.S. Steel, the United Steelworkers has no right to block the purchase of U.S. steel if the acquirer commits to upholding the existing collective bargaining agreement.
The acquisition has also sparked bipartisan attention in Washington. This week, three Republican senators sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asking the Committee on Foreign Investment in the country to review the deal. Senator Jon Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has also vowed to block the sale of U.S. steel to Japanese companies.
Nippon Steel announced on November 18 that it plans to acquire the 122-year-old U.S. Steel Corporation and turn it into a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Reuters reported that the deal was a cash acquisition** at $55 per share, for a total value of about $14.9 billion. According to the price of U.S. steel on the 15th, the purchase premium is about 40%.
Reuters analyzed on the 18th that the acquisition of Nippon Steel is a bet that the U.S. steel industry will benefit from the infrastructure bill introduced by the United States. In addition, Nippon Steel, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, will significantly increase its crude steel production capacity after acquiring U.S. steel, while significantly increasing its production capacity in the United States. (End) (Special article by Xinhua News Agency).
Keywords: Nippon Steel, U.S. Steels. steel)