Bipartisan legislators voiced opposition and concerns over the sale to a Japanese company.
Senators John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and J.D. Vance of Ohio called on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to block Japanese steel company Nippon Steel from acquiring America’s U.S. Steel Corp. The $14.9 billion sale of the domestic steel company, based primarily in Senator Fetterman’s home state, was approved on Monday.
Were the deal to go through, it would make the combined steel companies the third-largest producers of steel in the world. Senator Fetterman says that the sale is counterintuitive to the goal of increasing domestic production power. He said it would remove over $3.6 billion and 11,417 jobs from Pennsylvania’s state economy.
Director Lael Brainard of the White House National Economic Council said on Thursday, “The President believes U.S. Steel was an integral part of our arsenal of democracy in WWII and remains a core component of the overall domestic steel production that is critical to our national security. And he has been clear that we welcome manufacturers across the world building their futures in America with American jobs and American workers.”
She continued, “However, he also believes the purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign entity—even one from a close ally—appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the members of the president’s administration and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. as they consider the sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese company.
- For wisdom for Treasury Secretary Yellen as she chairs CFIUS.
- For federal legislators to be discerning as they express their concerns about the impact of the sale on national security and the economy.
Sources: The Hill, Townhall
