Editorial: U.S. Steel could be spared from merger. But now what?

What is the difference between an investment and a purchase?

Apparently, it could be enough to move President Donald Trump’s sentiments on the relationship between U.S. Steel and would-be buyer Nippon Steel.

The Japanese company in December 2023 offered almost $15 billion to buy U.S. Steel. Most of 2024 was spent with every American politician with a microphone — and that’s all of them — stepping up to call the plan a bad idea. They had various reasons, from the workers to the marquee nature of the classic American company. For many, including the Biden administration, it was a question of national security.

This was an area in which Donald Trump shared rare agreement with Joe Biden. Both pledged to kill the deal. Before leaving office, Biden came close, refusing to approve the deal but punting it to Trump.

On Friday, Trump announced a vague resolution in a joint appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Instead of Nippon Steel buying U.S. Steel, it would become an investor.

What that will look like is anyone’s guess. Will it be a $15 billion investment? What about the extra $1 billion pledged for upgrades at Pittsburgh-area facilities? What about promises made to local workers?

More than anything, how will investment rather than purchase change the concerns surrounding the deal?

Will it make United Steelworkers International more in favor of the deal? Does it change potential national security issues?

And how much money invested constitutes a purchase? If investment is permissible but sale isn’t, is there a point where investment needs to stop?

The idea does provide a lifeline to steelworkers — some of whom were not in lockstep with the international union — and communities. Locals have been in limbo waiting to see how the corporate and government decisions would affect them. Trump’s announcement provides hope.

But that hope is still coupled with a lot of uncertainty.