Reuters reported that the president of Nippon Steel said on Monday that the Japanese steelmaker and the U.S. government share a mutual understanding that its planned acquisition of U.S. Steel will strengthen the American steel industry and manufacturing sector.
“In my opinion, the U.S. government and we are moving closer to a mutual understanding that our acquisition of U.S. Steel will help strengthen the U.S. steel industry and manufacturing through investment, including equity participation,” Nippon Steel President Tadashi Imai told reporters.
According to him, Japan’s largest steel producer and U.S. Steel are still in discussions with the U.S. government to finalize the terms of the acquisition and planned investments without offering additional details. Last week’s court filing revealed that the Trump administration sought to extend two deadlines in the lawsuit between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel against a U.S. national security panel, allowing the government more time to finalize merger negotiations with the companies. Some reports see this progress as an indication that Trump may have second thoughts about allowing the deal, despite the rejections from his predecessor Joe Biden.
Previous reports in February showed that Trump clarified that Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel, discussed alongside Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba in the Oval Office, would now be framed as an investment, not a traditional buyout. He had also previously said that he wouldn’t mind if Nippon Steel took a minority stake in U.S. Steel.
Imai recently stated that the existing merger deal between the Japanese firm and U.S. Steel will act as a basis for negotiations with U.S. authorities, including the Department of Commerce.