(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden will meet with some 200 steelworkers in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to address an important constituency for both him and his political rival ahead of November’s presidential election.

Biden will speak in a large room on the fourth floor of the United Steelworkers historic headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh, giving him a chance to address the largest industrial union in North America, union President David McCall said Tuesday in a phone interview.

The visit comes as the union fights a high-profile battle against Nippon Steel Corp. on the future of United States Steel Corp., which agreed in December to a $14.1 billion takeover by the Japanese steelmaker. Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump have both courted steelworkers, who hold sway over critical swing states that may decide the outcome of the election. Any direct interactions with those blue-collar workers is seen as a critical public appearance.

McCall said he plans to raise the US Steel takeover with Biden as well as other subjects that affect his union membership.

“I’ll talk to him about the issue we face with Nippon, maybe talk to him about the shipbuilding petition we put in, and thank him for the infrastructure bill and IRA, as we’re starting to get some of that funding for the companies that need it and some of their future employers,” McCall said.

Read More: US Steel Shareholders Approve Nippon Steel’s Takeover Offer

The Nippon Steel-US Steel deal remains a focus as the US pivots to the general election cycle. Tensions were on display last week as Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made an official state visit to the White House, where strengthening economic and defense ties between the two nations topped the agenda.

Nippon Steel is participating in a question-and-answer session Wednesday with Citigroup Inc., the first time in weeks the Japanese company will have spoken to US Steel investors in any significant way, according to several people familiar with the event. It’s unclear what Nippon Steel will discuss or what its next offer to the union might be.

Meanwhile, USW’s McCall wrote in a letter two weeks ago to Nippon Steel that if the company wanted to meet and discuss the status of its takeover the union would do so. McCall has told Bloomberg that since that letter the company has been in touch to arrange a meeting. McCall said Nippon Steel Vice President Takahiro Mori said he’d get back soon with recommendations.

“There’s nothing scheduled and nothing planned,” McCall said, adding that there hasn’t been any further correspondence between the two sides since last week’s state visit. “They should take no for an answer.”

--With assistance from Josh Wingrove and Christopher Condon.

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