Fate of US Steel’s deal with Japan’s Nippon is now up to Biden, sources say

A committee of top government agency officials has notified President Joe Biden that it has not reached a consensus on whether a sale of US Steel to a Japanese rival poses a national security risk, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

A committee of top government agency officials has notified President Joe Biden that it has not reached a consensus on whether a sale of US Steel to a Japanese rival poses a national security risk, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The fate of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel is now in the hands of Biden, who is expected to block it after arguing for months that the company should remain American-owned to protect domestic steel jobs. The Washington Post was first to report on the committee’s review. CNN has reported throughout the monthslong review that the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, known colloquially as CFIUS, was deadlocked over whether the deal posed a national security risk beyond being a political lightning rod. Customarily, a final report from the committee informs a president’s view of the potential risks a deal poses. Treasury chairs the committee, which is composed of high-level officials from the president’s Cabinet agencies who are responsible for areas of national security. But within the committee, top officials expressed frustration about public opposition to the deal by Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump, imperiling the group’s ability to review the deal on its merits. Both US Steel and Nippon have maintained that the deal poses no national security threat. Spokespeople for both companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shares of US Steel (X) fell 3% in afterhours trading.