US Steel CEO: Government failed our country after Nippon Steel deal axed

The CEO of US Steel accused President Biden of failing the United States and encouraging foreign adversaries after his administration. blocked the proposed $14 billion acquisition US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel.

U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt told Fox Business’ Lydia Hui in an interview Monday that Biden has shown the world that the U.S. does not care about the rule of law with the now-defunct deal.

“We did everything right as a company,” Burritt said. “They failed us because they failed us. They failed us.” communities, failed our country, failed our country. Best ally in Asia and they have encouraged China by not following the rule of law.”

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President Joe Biden has blocked Nippon Steel Corp.’s $14.1 billion takeover of United States Steel Corp. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“CFIUS [The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] It’s supposed to be robust and confidential, and we find it neither robust nor confidential,” Burritt continued. “And unfortunately, the president of the United States shamefully, shamefully tainted the CFIUS process from the very beginning we were the process, and it was a mistake that we allowed. We owe due process, and it sends a terrible message to our workers and a terrible message to our best allies around the world that our country does not respect the rule of law.”

Before blocking it, Biden opposed the deal, arguing that US Steel should remain an American-owned and American company. The Biden-Harris administration’s Justice Department investigated the deal on antitrust grounds, while the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) was investigating the national security implications of the deal.

US STEEL’S CEO SAYS COMPANY WILL LIKELY SHUT PLANTS IF IT OFFERS $14B SALE TO NIPPON STEEL FALLS.

His decision to block it came shortly after Burritt publicly warned that if the firm achievement collapsed, the company would likely be forced to close steel plants in Pennsylvania’s Monongahela Valley and Gary, Indiana, which were slated to receive $3 billion in upgrades with cash injected by Nippon. for the company to remain economically competitive with international competitors and to keep workers in jobs, he said.

“We wouldn’t do it if the deal fell through,” Burritt said The Wall Street Journal in a recent interview: “I have no money.”

Burritt also signaled that if the Mon Valley Works were to close, the company would likely look to relocate headquarters outside of Pittsburgh to a location in the south where an increasing share of the company’s production has moved.

A U.S. flag flies from a light pole in front of the Wheeling-Nippon Steel plant in Follansbee, West Virginia on March 15, 2024 as Nippon Steel Corp. sought to complete its $14.1 billion acquisition of United States Steel Corp. even after P (Photo by Justin Merriman/Bloomberg/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Nippon Steel and US Steel criticized Biden’s decision in a joint statement published on Friday, writing that the president’s participation “represents a clear violation of due process and law.” The companies also accused the process of being “manipulated to advance Biden’s political agenda.”

The statement also denied Biden’s claims of national security concerns and said US Steel plans to take legal action against the government to “protect our legal rights.”

“The President’s statement and order do not provide any credible evidence that this is a political decision. We have no choice but to take all appropriate steps to protect our legal rights,” they wrote .

“We will never give up doing business in the US for the benefit of US domestic stakeholders,” the statement continues. “We continue to believe that a partnership between Nippon Steel and US Steel is the best way to ensure that US Steel, and particularly its USW facilities, will be able to compete and thrive well into the future, and we will work closely with : interested parties, including Japanese government officials and allies and partners in the United States, take all appropriate measures to protect our legal rights and secure that future.”

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who Nippon Steel hired last year to advise on the deal, said: his support for the acquisition before Biden’s decision to block it. He also blamed alleged politicization of CFIUS for scuttling the deal.

“Unfortunately, that commission, which was responsible for assessing national security risks, became politicized,” Pompeo told Kudlow. “Instead of just looking at national security risks, of course there are none. it’s an ally, Japan that’s going to invest in America, make steel here in America, build in America.”

US Secretary of State (2018-2021) and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2017-2018) Mike Pompeo speaks at the Fortune Global Forum on America and the New Global Order in New York. (Gemal Countess/Getty Images for Fortune Media/Getty Images)

Pompeo urged the incoming Trump administration, which has also opposed the deal, “to reconsider for the workers of Pennsylvania, who are almost all in favor of moving this deal forward, all but the top liberal union leadership…

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“It’s good for the community,” he said, “and good for the Mon Valley.”

USA steel shareholders voted in favor the $14.9 billion deal with Nippon Steel in April, with 98% of shareholders voting in favor of the deal.

Eric Revell of Fox Business contributed to this report.