President Donald Trump celebrated on Friday the partnership between U.S. Steel and Japan-based Nippon Steel, telling Pennsylvania steelworkers, “We don’t want America’s future to be built with shoddy steel from Shanghai — we want it built with the strength and the pride of Pittsburgh!”
Trump marked the occasion with a rally at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works-Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, just outside of Pittsburgh — a venue carefully secured in advance by the U.S. Secret Service, keen not to drop the ball again in the Keystone State.
‘I proclaimed a simple but crucially important principle: If you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country!’
“This is an incredible deal for American steelworkers, and it includes vital protections to ensure that all steelworkers will keep their jobs and all facilities in the U.S. will remain open,” Trump told rally-goers, evidently proud of shepherding the companies into an agreement that wouldn’t jeopardize American control or jobs.
The president also announced that the tariff on steel would double from 25% to 50% in order to help the steel industry even more. The audience applauded loudly at the proclamation.
“When I came into office eight years ago, I proclaimed a simple but crucially important principle: If you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country!” he added.
Trump lauded steelworkers as “the best people,” saying, “You people and others like you built this country.”
“We are once again going to put Pennsylvania steel into the backbone of America,” he said at the end of his speech.
Supporters of the deal were jubilant in their comments to CBS News.
“How I feel is I can take a breath today,” said third-generation steel worker Andrew Macey. “It’s just wonderful.”
“When you see that everything you’ve done for the last two years come together, it’s overwhelming with emotion,” said West Mifflin Mayor Chris Kelly. “So yes, I was crying. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Big men cry, and I was crying with happiness.”
Background
Former President Joe Biden torpedoed a $15 billion deal for the Japanese corporation to fully purchase U.S. Steel, stressing that “a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains.”
Biden’s Jan. 3 decision — announced weeks before Trump retook office and just days after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States indicated it was unable to reach a consensus on the transaction — was condemned by both companies. They noted in a joint statement that Biden’s action reflected “a clear violation of due process and the law” and relied upon a process “manipulated to advance President Biden’s political agenda.”
The companies subsequently took legal action, challenging Biden’s order, and said of their litigation:
From the outset of the process, both Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have engaged in good faith with all parties to underscore how the Transaction will enhance, not threaten, United States national security, including by revitalizing communities that rely on American steel, bolstering the American steel supply chain, and strengthening America’s domestic steel industry against the threat from China.
U.S. Steel leaders suggested that without an infusion of capital from Nippon Steel, the American company would have to limit its legacy blast furnace investments and embrace cheaper nonunion electric arc furnaces, reported CBS News.
The company’s mixed package of threats and warnings also included the suggestion that U.S. Steel might move its headquarters out of Pittsburgh.
Change of heart
Trump, like his predecessor, was not initially convinced the sale was a good idea.
The president, who emphasized in his first term that “if you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country,” noted a month before Biden blocked the deal, “I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan.”
Trump reiterated his opposition in late January, stating, “We saved the steel industry. Now, U.S. Steel is being bought by Japan. So terrible.”
‘US Steel will REMAIN in America.’
Despite his months-long opposition, Trump expressed an openness on Valentine’s Day to the possibility of Nippon Steel acquiring a minority stake in U.S. Steel, saying he “wouldn’t mind greatly.” However, he suggested that “psychologically, we can’t even think about letting that happen,” in reference to a full takeover.
It appears there has since been a favorable shift in psychology and terms.
A month after speaking with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Sen. Dave McCormick (R) about U.S. Steel and about keeping jobs and investment in the state, Trump announced on May 23 that the deal — or some form of it — had the green light to proceed.
RELATED: Revving up America — Trump’s Nippon Steel deal puts the pedal to the metal
Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
The deal
Trump framed the deal not as an acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon but rather as the beginning of a “partnership” that would create at least 70,000 jobs — U.S. Steel presently employs just over 14,300 people in North America — and add $14 billion to the American economy.
“I am proud to announce that, after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “For many years, the name, ‘United States Steel’ was synonymous with Greatness, and now, it will be again.”
The president framed the $14 billion figure as an investment — the largest in “the History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” — and noted that the bulk of the investment would occur over the next 14 months.
‘That’s a big deal.’
While the White House told Blaze News that the “details of the deal will be announced at the appropriate time,” Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, a champion of the deal, provided some insights into key elements of the arrangements with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.
McCormick confirmed that Nippon has agreed to invest $14 billion “into new investment into U.S. Steel, and that’s going to be $2.4 billion, at least, minimum, in the Mon Valley right outside of Pittsburgh.”
Gov. Shapiro confirmed at an event Thursday that, based on commitments Nippon Steel has made to him and the White House, there will be an investment of at least $2.4 billion in steelmaking in the state.
“That’s a big deal, and it’s something that I think we do need to celebrate,” said Shapiro.
Besides the investment, there are apparently a number of assurances that Americans are still calling the shots.
RELATED: Trump signs steel, aluminum tariffs despite significant opposition
Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
‘This is being extremely well received in Pennsylvania.’
Sen. McCormick noted further that “it’s a national security agreement that will be signed with the U.S. government. It’ll be a U.S. CEO, a U.S. majority board, and then there will be a golden share that will essentially require U.S. government approval of a number of the board members, and that will allow the United States to ensure production levels aren’t cut and things like that.”
Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori told Reuters that trade and manufacturing capacity issues will be overseen by directors appointed by the CFIUS, effectively putting the Department of Commerce on the board.
Blaze News reached out to U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel, and the Department of Commerce for comment but did not receive responses by deadline.
The deal, according to McCormick, would save about 10,000 jobs in Pennsylvania and add another 10,000 jobs in the building trades. He noted elsewhere that the deal supports the creation of at least 14,000 jobs.
“This is being extremely well received in Pennsylvania,” said McCormick. “The steel workers there are wildly excited about it, and I think it’s going to be a great thing for my state.”
While individual workers might be elated, the United Steelworkers, a general trade union headquartered in Pittsburgh, is skeptical — but was initially outright condemnatory.
‘The latest “partnership” announcement continues to raise more questions than answers.’
“Allowing the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon, a serial trade cheater, will be a disaster for American steelworkers, our national security, and the future of American manufacturing,” USW international president David McCall said in a statement on May 22. “It is simply absurd to think that we could ever entrust the future of one of our most vital industries — essential to both national defense and critical infrastructure — to a company whose unfair trade practices continue to this day.”
Blaze News reached out to the union after more details emerged about the nature of the “partnership.” In response, a spokesman provided the message the USW sent to members Wednesday, which contained softened language but sustained skepticism:
The latest “partnership” announcement continues to raise more questions than answers. Nippon still maintains it would only invest in USS facilities if it owned the company outright. We’ve seen nothing in the reporting to indicate that position has changed. We also have no confirmation if or how much of the stated $14 billion would go to our union-represented sites, or how much would be for new capital improvements versus routine repair & maintenance.
While the USW remains uncertain about the arrangement, there appears to be significant support in Pennsylvania, including at the top.
Gov. Josh Shapiro noted in a statement that he and Pennsylvania Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis have long “worked with the leadership of Nippon and U.S. Steel, local labor, and federal, state, and local partners to press for the best deal to keep U.S. Steel headquartered in Pittsburgh, protect union jobs, and secure the future of steelmaking in Western Pennsylvania.”
“Now that President Trump — who has sole decision making authority in the CFIUS process, has expressed his support for the deal — we have the opportunity to deliver historic investments, ensure the future of American steelmaking continues to run through the Mon Valley while the headquarters of U.S. Steel remains in Pittsburgh and have our workers, right here in Pennsylvania, continue leading the world with their skill and innovation,” added Shapiro.
Davis said the announcement looked “promising” but noted that he wants to “make sure everyone involved in the deal holds up their end of the bargain.”
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