Trump orders new review of proposed US Steel acquisition

President Trump ordered on Monday a new review of a proposed U.S. Steel acquisition by Japanese corporation Nippon Steel.

In a memo to multiple government figures including department heads, the president told the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct a review of the acquisition of U.S. Steel for help “in determining whether further action in this matter may be appropriate.”

Earlier this year, former President Biden announced he was going to stop the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel in the wake of a yearlong review of the possible acquisition.

“We need major U.S. companies representing the major share of US steelmaking capacity to keep leading the fight on behalf of America’s national interests,” Biden said in a previous statement. 

“As a committee of national security and trade experts across the executive branch determined, this acquisition would place one of America’s largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains.”

U.S. Steel’s president and CEO slammed the president’s decision to block his company from being acquired by Nippon Steel shortly after the president’s announcement.

“President Biden’s action today is shameful and corrupt. He gave a political payback to a union boss out of touch with his members while harming our company’s future, our workers, and our national security,” David Burritt said in a post on the social platform X in January.

Trump vowed in December to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition on his Truth Social platform.

“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump said in a post at the time.

The Hill has reached out to U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel for comment.