Biden, Harris and Trump all oppose the US Steel sale. But that doesn’t mean it’s dead
CNN
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance disagree on a lot. But there’s at least one thing they’re all united on: opposition to the proposed merger between Japan’s Nippon Steel and the iconic American steelmaker US Steel.
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance disagree on a lot. But there’s at least one thing they’re all united on: opposition to the proposed merger between Japan’s Nippon Steel and the iconic American steelmaker US Steel. But that might not be enough to kill the deal. Harris joined the bipartisan crowd’s opposition in a Labor Day speech to a group that included members of the United Steelworkers union, which strongly opposes the merger. “US Steel is a historic American company, and it is vital for our nation to maintain strong American steel companies,” Harris said in Pittsburgh Monday. Last month, Trump said at a Pennsylvania rally that “I will stop Japan from buying United States Steel. They shouldn’t be allowed to buy it.” Normally, that bipartisan political opposition would end a deal’s chance of survival. Such a purchase needs the approval of the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). And CFIUS is hardly an independent body – it is made up of members of the president’s Cabinet. In addition, the Biden administration’s Justice Department has been far more reluctant to give antitrust approval to proposed mergers, blocking some high-profile deals, such as the proposed purchase of Spirt Airlines by JetBlue. But there’s reason to think that the deal could yet win approval not only from regulators but also from the union now firmly opposed to the deal – although experts who believe that could happen say it wouldn’t occur until after the election.
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