US-Japan steel deal goes to Biden for final decision after panel deadlocks
Al Jazeera
Committee on Foreign Investment in the US fails to agree on national security risks of proposed takeover of US Steel.
A decision on whether to allow Nippon Steel’s proposed takeover of US Steel has fallen to United States President Joe Biden after a government panel failed to agree on possible national security risks.
The failure of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) to reach a consensus on the $15bn deal on Monday increases the likelihood that Biden will block the takeover in his final days in office.
Biden voiced his opposition to the acquisition during his ill-fated re-election campaign, insisting on the need for “strong American steel companies powered by American steelworkers”.
Following CFIUS’s failure to reach a consensus, Biden has 15 days to approve the deal or extend the timeline for making a decision.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, also opposed the deal, describing the proposed takeover of the Pittsburgh-based steel maker by Japan’s largest steel producer as “a horrible thing”.
