Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel said Monday that they have filed two lawsuits over President Joe Biden’s decision to block the Japanese company’s $14.9 billion acquisition of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker.
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday also reiterated his opposition to the deal, at least for now, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “Why would they want to sell U.S. Steel now when Tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company? Wouldn’t it be nice to have U.S. Steel, once the greatest company in the World, lead the charge toward greatness again? It can all happen very quickly!”
The deal became a central focus of the 2024 presidential election as both sides vied for support from labor union and blue-collar workers, particularly in the Rust Belt. Biden, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris all voiced opposition to the deal.
The first lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit claims the companies’ constitutional right to due process was violated. The case argues that Biden’s decision to block the deal was based on “purely political reasons” and that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency panel that scrutinizes such deals, failed to review the case on national security grounds as it is supposed to do. They are asking for CFIUS to conduct a new review of the deal.
