Biden blocks Japan's $14 billion takeover of US Steel on national security grounds
Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
- President Joe Biden blocked the $14 billion takeover of US Steel by a Japanese rival.
- The deal would create "risk for our national security and our critical supply chains," the president said.
- President-elect Trump had also expressed opposition to the Nippon Steel deal.
Shares in US Steel fell about 8% in premarket trading on Friday after President Joe Biden blocked a $14 billion takeover by Nippon Steel.
In a statement, Biden said a committee of national security and trade experts had found that the deal would leave one of "America's largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains."
The veto would mean America has a "strong, domestically owned and operated steel industry that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad."
Biden's move had been expected. Bloomberg reported in mid-December that the president would block Nippon's takeover bid on national security grounds.
President-elect Trump said in a Truth Social post earlier last month that he was "totally against" the deal.
Nippon Steel would be liable for a $565 million penalty to US Steel if the deal collapsed, Reuters reported.
This is a developing story.