Biden Urges 'Serious Scrutiny' of US Steel Sale After Outcry

With the deal facing quick opposition from congressional members of both parties and the United Steelworkers union, Biden administration officials said Thursday that the president believes government regulators should take a close look at the proposed acquisition of US Steel. The company's sale, to Japan's Nippon Steel in a package valued around $14.1 billion, was announced Monday. Lael Brainard, director of President Biden's National Economic Council, issued a statement citing the historic importance of US Steel's production, the Hill reports. Given that the buyer is foreign, Brainard said, Biden believes the deal "appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability."

Four Democratic and three Republican senators have spoken critically of the sale already, per Reuters. Their objections to the deal included national security concerns, the possibility it will shift steelworkers' jobs to states with lower pay and damage US industry, as well as the lack of consultation with the union. Brainard suggested antitrust officials examine the sale. In addition, "this looks like the type of transaction that the interagency committee on foreign investment Congress empowered and the Biden administration strengthened is set up to carefully investigate," the statement said. The administration would then consider the findings of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and act if necessary, she said, though the committee has the power to block a sale to a foreign buyer on national security grounds.

David McCall, president of the United Steelworkers, also urged that regulators examine the need for national security implications and effects on workers, per the AP. The White House pointed out the company's longstanding role in the US. "The President believes US Steel was an integral part of our arsenal of democracy in WWII," Brainard said. Sen. John Fetterman, who lives across the street from US Steel's Edgar Thompson plant near Pittsburgh, said he'll try to prevent the sale. "It's absolutely outrageous that US Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company," he said. (More US Steel stories.)