Vincent Trometter: Trump needs Nippon Steel to win agenda

Vital toward reindustrializing the country, where our factory towns are revitalized, our ports are making new ships and the skylines of our cities grow higher, President Trump is seeking to correct President Joe Biden’s ill-sighted decision to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel.

The idea has been in the works for a long time. On Dec. 18, 2023, U.S. Steel announced that it entered into an agreement to be acquired by Nippon Steel. However, Biden’s team slow-walked the decision to block the final transaction.

Sen. Rand Paul explained what happened next. “With former president Joe Biden officially killing the sale of U.S. Steel to a Japanese company, let this be a cautionary tale to every industry that sends its lobbyists to Washington seeking protection from competition. The government may protect your business out of existence.”

In February, Trump rightfully upended this decision by reorienting the deal from a straight up purchase to a big investment. Still, Nippon’s investment would supercharge U.S. Steel’s growth, give it access to new technologies and help stabilize an important industry. The details of the deal are still in flux, but insourcing investment in the U.S. economy to help the steel industry is an amazing development.

What is known, though, is that this agreement would keep U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh and stave off the collapse of its three legacy blast furnaces in the Keystone State and Indiana that provide roughly 12% of the country’s steel supply. The investment will also upgrade and expand these facilities so they can replace imports from Canada and China.

Trump recognizes keeping U.S. Steel’s production capacity afloat is critical for his agenda and national security. This is why he has invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950 to force the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct a new review over the transaction.

This has caused great acclaim. “We appreciate and commend President Donald Trump’s leadership,” a spokesman for U.S. Steel said. “His action today validates our Board’s bold decision to challenge President Biden’s unlawful order.” While Biden used CFIUS to block investment, President Trump is giving the Nippon Steel deal a fair hearing before the body.

Employees agree. “We are hopeful it gets done, whether through Trump or litigation,” Bob Rudnik, a steelworker at the U.S. Steel Irvin Works, said. “Nobody else will or has the ability to offer the investments or a 10-year guarantee that we were offered with Nippon.”

Those with foresight are also on board. “If President Trump is smart, his administration will undo another Biden legacy by working with the local membership to see the Nippon Steel acquisition through,” one man wrote to TribLive. “Neither U.S. Steel nor its U.S. rivals have the ability or desire to make the investments necessary to bring the company where Nippon Steel will.”

“Blocking this transaction means denying billions of committed investment to extend the life of U.S. Steel’s aging facilities and putting thousands of good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs at risk,” Nippon and U.S. Steel wrote in a joint letter before Trump took office. “In short, we believe that President Biden has sacrificed the future of American steelworkers for his own political agenda.”

Nippon Steel will be a great partner for union members, too. It already works with the United Steelworkers (USW), who represent approximately 620 employees at its Wheeling-Nippon Steel and Standard Steel facilities. Nippon has vowed that, after its investment, it would honor all collective bargaining agreements and recognize the USW as the bargaining representative for USW-represented employees. Lastly, the transaction will not cause layoffs of USW-represented employees, something that would happen if Biden’s decision was final.

Post-investment, the combined company will also maintain U.S. Steel’s current compensation and benefits programs for its workers. American steelworkers would have more resources and the commitment of a much larger company that wants to grow the best, strongest and cleanest steelmaker in the United States.

Ultimately, Trump’s ability to propose a solution that satisfies American workers and the bosses is savvy and should be applauded. His appeal to CFIUS is the first step toward clearing the way for the infrastructure to be in place to propel his agenda of reindustrialization forward.

Vincent Trometter, a native of Williamsport, has worked at international trade organizations in Washington, D.C., and Ireland.