(Bloomberg) -- The United Steelworkers union said Nippon Steel Corp.’s latest offer to win presidential approval of its proposed acquisition of US Steel Corp. is a long-shot attempt that fails to commit to maintaining future production.
The influential union published a statement on its website to its members in response to the latest efforts by Nippon Steel to gain support for its $14.1 billion deal from US President Joe Biden. The Japanese steelmaker has proposed giving the US government a veto over any reduction in US Steel’s production capacity, Bloomberg News reported this week.
“According to the press, Nippon says it will allow capacity to be monitored, but once again, it fails to commit to maintaining production for the long term or actually strengthening domestic capacity in integrated facilities,” Thursday’s USW statement said. “Protecting capacity only means moth-balling our equipment, allowing it to rust away to the point that it is no longer feasible to re-start.”
Nippon Steel’s proposal is aimed at addressing concerns raised by a national security panel over the transaction. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, reportedly said that the Japanese company’s takeover of US Steel would lead to a decline in American steel output. The panel deadlocked on its review and last week left the final decision with Biden, who has repeatedly indicated his opposition to the deal.
“This is nothing but a ‘Hail Mary’ pass destined to fall to the ground,” the USW statement by President David McCall and District 7 Director Mike Millsap said.
US Steel didn’t immediately provide comment. A Nippon Steel representative reiterated an earlier statement that the company has no plans to shift production away from USW-represented facilities.
Biden has 15 days from the Cfius referral to announce a decision. He has repeatedly said US Steel should remain domestically owned and operated.
--With assistance from Joe Deaux.
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