Nippon Steel Chief: U.S. Steel Acquisition to Bolster American Steel Industry

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Nippon Steel Corporation’s new Chief has extended strong support to the proposed $14.1 billion acquisition of United States Steel Corp. Tadashi Imai, the newly appointed President of the Tokyo-based company noted that the deal will only strengthen the U.S. steel industry and make it more competitive.

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According to Imai, Nippon Steel is not considering alternative options and is focused on negotiating with the United Steelworkers union to win their support for the acquisition deal. Nippon Steel produces high-end, electrical steel sheets for automobiles at its Japanese plants. The U.S. lacks a domestic steelmaking facility with the same capacity. The acquisition will bring this technology to U.S. Steel, he added.

The remarks from Nippon Steel top executive have come at a time when the President Joe Biden has reiterated his stance that U.S. Steel should be domestically owned and operated. He is slated to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington on 10th April, 2024. Soon after the meeting, the U.S. Steel shareholders have called a meeting to discuss the bid by the Japanese steelmaker.

Nippon Steel is not considering to change the terms of the deal, by offering to acquire lesser stake, Imai said.