The US-Japan steel agreement goes to Biden for the final decision after the closing of the panel | Business and Economics

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US fails to agree on the national security risks of the proposed takeover of US Steel.

The decision on whether to allow Nippon Steel to take over US Steel has fallen to the President of the United States Joe Biden after the government team failed to agree on possible risks to national security.

The failure of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) to reach a $15 billion deal on Monday raises the possibility that Biden will be prevented from taking office in his final days in office.

Biden voiced his opposition to the sequestration during his disastrous election campaign, stressing the need for “strong American steel companies funded by American steel workers”.

After CFIUS fails to reach an agreement, Biden has 15 days to approve the agreement or extend the timeline to make a decision.

US President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, also opposed the deal, describing the proposed takeover of a Pittsburgh-based steelmaker by a major Japanese steelmaker as “bad”.

Under the terms of the acquisition, US Steel will become a subsidiary of Nippon Steel but retain its name and headquarters in Pittsburgh.

The combined company will be one of the largest steel producers in the world.

US Steel and Nippon Steel on Monday both urged Biden to allow the acquisition to go ahead as planned.

“The transaction between US Steel and Nippon Steel improves the national and economic security of the US through investments in manufacturing and innovation – it is a company based in one of the United States’ alliances – and creates an alliance in steel to fight the competitive threat from China,” said the US Steel in the statement.

“This is a project that should be recognized on its merits, and should be a model of ‘friendship’ investment.”

The United Steelworkers Labor Union (USW), which has expressed doubts that Nippon Steel will keep jobs at the unionized factories, has again opposed the takeover.

“The proposed US Steel-Nippon transaction represents nothing but corporate greed, selling out American workers and jeopardizing the long-term future of our domestic steel industry and our national security,” USW President David McCall said in a statement.

Although Republicans and Democrats broadly support the deal, opposition parties have cast a cloud over US relations with Japan, one of Washington’s closest rivals.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last month wrote to Biden asking him to approve the deal to avoid damaging relations between the parties, Reuters news agency reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.