"I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, adding he would use tax incentives and tariffs to strengthen the American steelmaker.
The proposed US$14.1 billion acquisition, which would create the world's third-largest steelmaker by volume, faces scrutiny from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) amid opposition from labor unions in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state in the recent presidential election.
Japan's Nippon Steel defended the deal, saying in a statement it plans to invest at least US$2.7 billion in U.S. Steel's facilities and will preserve American jobs, while Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel, ranked 24th globally last year, has struggled against international competition despite shareholder approval for the merger.
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