Biden - and steelmakers - promise U.S. Steel will stay American

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

April 18, 2024 2:09 AM EDT Updated 5 hours ago


PITTSBURGH, April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Steel (X.N), opens new tab and Japanese buyer Nippon Steel (5401.T) said the Pittsburgh-based firm will remain an "iconic American company" even after a planned $14.9 billion takeover, echoing President Joe Biden's promise to local steelworkers.

The two steel giants responded hours after Biden on Wednesday pledged that U.S. Steel would remain a "totally American company," repeating his opposition to the deal. "And that's going to happen, I promise you," Biden told the supportive crowd during an event in Pittsburgh.

U.S. Steel Corp has agreed to be bought by Nippon Steel for $14.9 billion, but the deal has been described as being on life support since the Democratic president announced his opposition last month. "The partnership between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel is the right combination to ensure that U.S. Steel remains an iconic American company for generations to come," the steelmakers said in a joint statement.

"Its iconic name will be unchanged, and its products will remain mined, melted and made in America," the statement said, adding that jobs and plants would be protected. The partnership would also strengthen the U.S. steel industry's resilience against threats from China and support the "crucial" U.S.-Japan alliance, the companies said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/biden-says-us-steel-should-remain-an-american-company-2024-04-17/

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Odd - Biden himself is "promising" and "guaranteeing" that it will remain "totally American", but ...

... a "senior administration official" declined to say if the administration would intervene to ensure that. I hope nothing happens to piss off steelworkers - Pennsylvania needs to stay Democratic in November.

[modrepub]

2. The False Narrative of Political Culpability In Business

In a larger sense, it's bewildering at times how company missteps are transferred from the decisions management made that got them in their predicament to the politicians (specifically Democratic ones) that happened to be convenient scapegoats. US manufacturing job loses throughout history can be (IMHO) largely assigned to automation, often in response to increasing wages. It seems to be the natural evolution in a capitalist system; do more with less.

I guess its in industry's best interest to blame their problems on "excess regulatory interference". Those rules put in place to ensure worker safety, decent wages and benefits and to make sure any waste byproducts are safely accounted for. And we know which party caters to that vision.

I have mixed feelings about all this. First, holding politicians responsible for situations completely out of their control and not assigning any blame to the companies that may have directly contributing to their problems is mind boggling. Whatever happened to "personal responsibility"? Second, there are some serious environmental problems for the communities that surround the US Steel facilities in the Mon Valley. The US version of this company does not have the capital to implement any upgrades that would help lower the environmental degradation caused by these plants. A union with Nippon Steel would provide the capital to upgrade these facilities. And while these plants have lots of good jobs directly associated with them, we're well past the days when steel mills literally employed 10,000 plus workers at them.