Mike Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State in the first Trump administration, supported Nippon Steel's attempt to acquire U.S. Steel, a marked change in direction from President-elect Trump, who had vowed to block the acquisition.
“Blocking this purchase would reduce our ability to maintain robust and competitive domestic steel production and undermine our national security,” Pompeo said. Editorial The Wall Street Journal announced on Friday.
Reuters reported In July, Japan hired Mr. Pompeo to help lobby for the deal.
The Japanese company announced last year that it would buy U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion, a move that was criticized by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Nippon requested a re-application for the takeover proposal in September, and a decision on approving the takeover was postponed until after the presidential election.
Pompeo went on to write that blocking the deal would “strengthen, not challenge, China's steel dominance.” The Economist September issue reported China produces as much steel each year as the rest of the world combined.
“If the US blocks this deal, China will perceive it as evidence that US-Japan relations are in trouble. “It will fuel a false narrative about the empty promises we offer our allies,” he wrote. “This is what we need,” he said.
He said the acquisition will ultimately increase the competitiveness of the domestic steel industry, while strengthening national security and improving services for steel workers. But the agreement has come under intense scrutiny from the United Steelworkers union.
“Our concerns are based on a wealth of evidence. Nippon Steel has strategically placed both base materials and finished products in the U.S. and other countries as it offloads 16 million tons of excess capacity in Japan and China. We have a long history of importing, all to the detriment of the American steel industry and American steelworkers,” said David McCall. , International President of the United Steelworkers;I wrote this earlier this year.
President Trump said in a post on Truth Social earlier this month that he was “totally opposed” to the Nippon of U.S. Steel acquisition.
President Trump wrote that he “totally opposes the acquisition of the once great and powerful U.S. Steel by a foreign company, in this case Japan's Nippon Steel.” We will make it strong and great again.”
Still, the president-elect's latest tariff threats, which include imposing a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican products and an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods, have angered the country's trading partners. This is causing concern among experts. .
