WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Friday that Japanese-based Nippon Steel will look to invest in U.S. Steel, rather than outright owning the iconic American company, after the sale of U.S. Steel was blocked by President Joe Biden.
“They’ve agreed to invest heavily in U.S. Steel, as opposed to own it. And that sounds very exciting,” Trump said Friday after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House.
Trump said he will meet with leaders of Nippon and U.S. Steel next week to help mediate the transaction. Like Biden, Trump has opposed the sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, the nation’s second-largest steel manufacturer, to Nippon, which had reached an agreement to buy the company for $14.9 billion.
Biden argued in an order preventing the deal that it is critical that America maintain resilient supply chains. His lame duck administration used the Defense Production Act to prevent the proposed $14.9 billion purchase of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel from going through in early January. It then delayed its order telling Nippon Steel to drop its bid to purchase the company until June.
“U.S. Steel will make products which will contribute not only to the United States and Japan, but also to the whole world,” Ishiba said through a translator. “It is not one-sided. It will be reciprocal. It will be mutually beneficial.”
As Trump’s meeting with Ishiba got underway, Trump said the two leaders would be discussing the proposed sale, but he had not shifted his position.
“No, I think we’re going to be discussing that today,” Trump said. “No, I haven’t.”
Trump came out against the deal as a presidential candidate and reaffirmed in December after his White House win that he was “totally against” the sale of U.S. Steel to a foreign company. He pledged to help the company through tax incentives and tariffs, adding: “As President, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”
First meeting between Trump and Japan’s prime minister
Japan’s agenda for the meeting was simple: maintaining U.S.-Japanese relations and affirming Trump administration support for its allies in East Asia who are facing threats from North Korea and China, including aggression from Beijing in the disputed South China Sea near the Philippines.
“The United States is totally committed to the security of Japan. We will extend the full strength of American deterrence capabilities and defense of our friend and ally, 100%,” Trump said Friday.
Trump and Ishiba spoke on the phone after Trump’s election last year but the leaders had never met. Ishiba became prime minister of Japan not long before Trump pulled off a comeback bid for the White House.
After their meeting on Friday, Trump said that he respected Ishiba and found him to be a strong person. “He’s going to be a great prime minister,” he said.
Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after his surprise victory in the 2016 presidential election. The early meeting gave Abe a leg up with Trump, who made Japan his first stop on a long swing through Asia the next year.
Ishiba visited with the late Abe’s wife, Akie, before his trip to Washington. He also consulted former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced his resignation in August, a Japanese official said.
Japanese officials acknowledged before the meeting that they could not predict what Trump might bring up. The president used a Tuesday evening press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce that the U.S. wanted to takeover the Gaza Strip and relocate Palestinians who live there to neighboring countries.
The White House said before the meeting that Trump planned to bring up joint training exercises between the U.S. and Japan, increased cooperation between the two countries on the development and purchase of defense equipment and advanced technology such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence and investment by Japanese companies in the U.S.
Nippon Steel was not on the official agenda but the proposed purchase was expected to come after Trump met with U.S. Steel’s CEO at the White House on Thursday. He indicated on Friday at his news conference that he’d be meeting with the head of Nippon, which he referred to as Nissan, to help mediate and arbitrate the agreement.
Neither Nippon Steel nor U.S. Steel were immediately available for comment.
Trump also said that the U.S. and Japan were discussing a joint venture involving oil and gas in Alaska. He did not go into specifics.
(This story has been updated with more information.)
