Nippon Steel Announces Plan to Upgrade US Steel Plants

The money is contingent, however, on the Japanese steel company actually acquiring US Steel. Despite reaching a deal with the US company in late 2023, Nippon Steel’s $14 billion offer has fallen under political and regulatory scrutiny. The union representing US Steel’s workers and both major presidential candidates are against the deal.

The United Steelworkers, favor of the company’s purchase by Ohio-based rival Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. instead of Nippon Steel. In an August 28 statement, the union’s President, David McCall, noted that the promised funds from Nippon Steel are not binding.

“A press release is not a contract,” he said, and called for Nippon Steel to “answer to pressing concerns regarding our critical supply chains and national security.”

In January, former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump opposed the deal in remarks made after meeting with the head of the Teamsters labor union. Trump, who favored aggressive tariff policies during his time in office, said he would “block it instantly.”

And on Labor Day, his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, reiterated President Biden’s stance against the purchase. At a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, she said “US Steel should remain American owned and American operated.”