First he disapproved of it. Now he approves of it. What changed? At The Japan Times Francis Tang reports on the now-approved acquisition of U. S. Steel by Nippon Steel:
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a “partnership” between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, with press reports indicating that this signals the approval of a takeover of the iconic American company by the Japanese steelmaker.
“I am proud to announce that, after much consideration and negotiation, U.S. Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday.“This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $$14 Billion to the U.S. Economy,” Trump continued, while adding the investment will occur in the next 14 months.
Neither Trump nor the White House elaborated on the structure of the deal. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel also described the transaction as a partnership. Japan’s Nikkei and other local media reported the deal as an acquisition.
Is the only thing that has changed the cosmetics of the deal?
Bob Tita and Lauren Thomas report at the Wall Street Journal:
Nippon Steel received a conditional green light from President Trump to take control of U.S. Steel under what he described as a partnership.
Key aspects of the deal still need to be ironed out. But Trump’s announcement signaled that the Tokyo-based company could eventually enter the American steel market and make the big investments envisioned when it reached a $14.1 billion deal to take over U.S. Steel.
Trump defined the agreement as a partnership, spurring some confusion at the companies on Friday afternoon, according to people involved in the deal talks. Both Nippon and U.S. Steel were seeking more guidance from the administration about how much ownership Nippon could ultimately gain.
In a post on Truth Social Friday, Trump said the partnership between the two companies would result in at least 70,000 jobs and add $14 billion to the U.S. economy. The bulk of that investment will occur in the next 14 months, the post said.
To my eye this acquisition is an unalloyed good. It means that U. S. Steel’s operations and processes will be modernized, something that was direly needed and for which I saw no prospect were the company to be acquired by a U. S. competitor, and that more of the steel used in the U. S. will be produced in the U. S. I’m still curious about what has changed. The reporters seem to be as puzzled about that as I am.
USS market cap is variously reported at $10B, +/-. A $14B investment ought to buy the company if structured as a share purchase. If structured as a capital investment with a negotiated ownership structure Nippon should still walk away with the lion’s share.
Also, I’m sure governance issues are to be finalized, but c’mon. On that note – “Both Nippon and U.S. Steel were seeking more guidance from the administration about how much ownership Nippon could ultimately gain.” Say what? That means its basically a concept. Even letters of intent, worthless as they are, would at least address the rather salient point of ownership.
But that all said, I agree with you that its a good thing if it can get to the finish line. (and I saw what you did there with “unalloyed”)
If accurate, this puts a little more meat on the bones. If your query “what changed” was a reference to Trump reversing his position the answer shouldn’t surprise. Pure negotiating. I was glad to see that $3B was going to the Gary works. (although I’ve been away from the industry for quite awhile) There is no reason that Gary – and Arcilor’s/Mittal’s old Inland Steel and Beth’s Harbor Works facilities shouldn’t prosper.
https://salenazito.com/2025/05/24/trump-makes-deal-of-a-lifetime-for-us-steel/
It’s crazy Ms. Zito seems to have reported far more factual details in what was happening then the media outlets I was expecting to have the details… ahem, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg.
CuriousOnlooker, IMO that’s consistent with something that’s been a recurring theme here at The Glittering Eye. The transition from 5W reporting to point-of-view reporting has resulted in a decline in the quality and repute of media outlets.
I suspect that access and insight give Ms. Zito an advantage in reporting on issues relating to the Trump Administration.
I read the article and it’s not clear what was gained by negotiating. In December 2023 Nippon offered $14.9 billion. If I am reading that article correctly the deal was settled at $14 billion and I dont see any comparisons between that offer and the one that was accepted. Mostly I suspect Trump should just get credit for letting this go through. If the price to pay was letting him make some claims I guess it’s worth it. We get modernized plants and Japan will still get to run the plants and make the money.
I would highly recommend Noah Smith’s piece on the steel industry. The US still produces the large majority of the steel it uses. Our imports were at 14% when we were at peak production in the 70s and at 24% now. Maybe we can recapture some of that but that wont give us huge job numbers or really a lot more steel. The bigger issue is that we just dont use as much steel, largely due to a lot less construction. Our costs of production are down. We now export more steel than we did in the 70s.
Steve