Two days after the Trump administration officially made a Qatar-gifted Air Force One replacement the future flying face of the U.S. presidency, Donald Trump went foreign again and announced he had approved a “planned partnership” of Japan’s Nippon Steel and iconic American company U.S. Steel.
But details were not provided, leaving it unclear whether the deal would involve an investment by Nippon or the Japanese company’s takeover of U.S. Steel. The Financial Times reported that Nippon is purchasing U.S. Steel for $15 billion.
Trump claimed in a social media post on Friday that the deal would add a massive 70,000 jobs and $14 billion to the U.S. economy. He said the company headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, and that the bulk of Nippon’s “investment” would occur over the next 14 months.
U.S. Steel currently employs a total of 22,000 workers, with 14,000 of them in North America.
Trump also announced he’s holding a “BIG RALLY” at U.S. Steel next Friday.
Both Nippon and U.S. Steel hailed the deal, while the United Steelworkers union (USW) remained leery.
“We cannot speculate about the impact of today’s announcement without more information,” union President David McCall said in a statement. “Our concern remains that Nippon, a foreign corporation with a long and proven track record of violating our trade laws, will further erode domestic steelmaking capacity and jeopardize thousands of good, union jobs.”
Nippon Steel announced in 2023 that it was purchasing U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion in a deal opposed by then President Joe Biden, the steelworkers and even Trump. The union had hoped the troubled company would be acquired by another American operation, Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs.
Biden blocked the Nippon takeover in early January on national security grounds, saying it would place one of the largest steel producers in the nation under foreign control, posing a risk for America’s critical supply chains.
On Thursday, after learning that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had issued its recommendations about the deal to Trump, the union, fearing a final takeover by Nippon, put out a statement lambasting “trade cheater” Nippon.
“Allowing the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon, a serial trade cheater, will be a disaster for American Steelworkers, our national security and the future of American manufacturing,” the statement said.
“It is simply absurd to think that we could ever entrust the future of one of our most vital industries — essential to both national defense and critical infrastructure — to a company whose unfair trade practices continue to this day. “
Trump posted his decision following a phone call earlier Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
U.S. Steel shares surged more than 20 percent after Trump’s announcement to close at $52.01 per share.
