On Friday, President Donald Trump pivoted.
He dropped his previous opposition to the acquisition of U.S. Steel, a marquee name in the history of American manufacturing, by Nippon Steel, a larger force in metals on the global stage.
“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 shared on Truth Social.
All in all, between that $14 billion investment and the $14.9 billion sale, it has the potential to be a $30 billion boon. And that investment includes a lot of money in the Greater Pittsburgh area.
The announcement brings to end more than a year of speculation. The deal has been on the table since December 2023, wrapped up in the red tape of review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the stickiness of opposition from almost everyone with a political podium.
CFIUS was deadlocked on a decision under the Biden administration. A reconfigured CFIUS of Trump appointees was also split, Reuters reported Thursday.
That left everything in Trump’s hands. His decision came late Friday, after a bad day of stock trading amid another Trump announcement, an increase of tariffs against the European Union.
So now the sale can move forward.
And now it’s time for Nippon to prove it can be trusted.
Nippon has to honor its promises to keep the jobs local steelworkers believed would be saved while the United Steelworkers International begged the president to kill the deal. Nippon has to follow through on the billions of dollars in pledges for upgrades and a new mill — because the region has heard those promises before only to have them pulled later.
Nippon needs to show that all of the fears may have been out of an abundance of caution. Tell Pittsburgh and politicians that there was nothing to fear but fear itself.
And if Trump is right and this is to be a partnership, Nippon needs to be a real partner.
This might be the end of a 17-month-long sales pitch, but it’s the start of a longer journey for the Japanese steelmaker. We await proof.
