Biden to announce decision on U.S. Steel acquisition as early as Friday

President Biden is likely to announce a decision as soon as Friday on whether he will approve Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, according to people familiar with the process.

The president has said in the past he opposed the deal, saying it was vital for U.S. Steel “to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.” 

In recent days, Mr. Biden’s top advisers have had extensive discussions with him about whether or not to approve the deal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also spoken directly with the president about the matter. 

U.S. Steel has indicated it is likely to file lawsuits, including against the Biden administration, if the president blocks the acquisition, sources said. Cleveland-Cliffs, which lost its bid for U.S. Steel, could also be named, as well as its president Lourenco Goncalves and U.S. Steelworkers president Dave McCall. 

On Tuesday, Nippon Steel, which is headquartered in Japan, proposed giving the U.S. government direct veto authority over any changes to U.S. Steel’s production capacity. The proposal represented a minor change to a recommendation from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a review panel known as CFIUS, intended to allay concerns that Nippon Steel’s proposed purchase of U.S. Steel could lead to a decline in domestic steel output and a reduction in its U.S. workforce. 

An earlier proposal suggested an independent majority-American board appointed by CFIUS would make decisions about production. That proposal was submitted to the White House for Mr. Biden’s review on Monday. 

The proposed change in the so-called mitigation agreement would give all of the decision-making power on changes to production capacity to the U.S. government.

According to a source familiar with the process, Nippon Steel’s new proposal offers a 10-year guarantee that it would not reduce production capacity at U.S. Steel’s mills in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama, Texas, California and Arkansas without approval by a CFIUS panel, which is led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition previously faced a Jan. 7 deadline, but last week, the company said it had extended the closing date of its acquisition to sometime in the first quarter of 2025. 

Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who is a CFIUS member, had concerns about the deal’s impact on labor, and was opposed to the deal, according to sources.

Other agencies that have seats on CFIUS, including the Justice, Treasury and State Departments, were not opposed.