WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has expressed his opposition to Nippon Steel buys US Steelbut the federal government appears to be in no rush to block the deal.
White House officials earlier this month did not deny that the president would formally block the acquisition. But the required report from the administration’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has not yet been submitted to the White House.
“That’s their process — it’s independent,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday. “We have to see the recommendation from CFIUS. That’s the process.”
The proposed takeover carries some political weight in Pennsylvania, a state that both Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump see as must-wins in the November presidential election. US Steel is headquartered in Pittsburgh.
Biden, Harris and Trump have all come out against the deal. Biden is close to the United Steelworkers, the union whose members work for US Steel and worries about the loss of job protections. Supporters of the merger note that US Steel’s older plants could be closed without the improved corporate balance sheet that a merger could provide.
The Washington Post initially reported on September 4 that the deal would be blocked by the federal government, then reported on Friday that any decision on the merger would be delayed.
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