WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration will delay implementation of a condition in an executive order this month that Nippon Steel Inc drop its $14.9 billion bid for US Steel, the companies said on Saturday.
US President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel's planned takeover of US Steel on national security grounds on January 3, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week that the proposed deal had received a “thorough analysis” by the interagency review body, the Foreign Affairs Committee. Investing in the United States.
The delay will give the courts time to review the legal challenge the parties filed earlier this month against Biden's order. Parties previously had 30 days to settle their transactions.
“We are pleased that CFIUS has granted an extension through June 18, 2025 of the requirement in President Biden’s executive order that the parties permanently abandon the transaction,” the companies said in a joint statement.
“We look forward to completing the transaction, which ensures the best future for the American steel industry and all of our stakeholders,” they said.
US Steel and Nippon Steel claimed in a lawsuit on Monday that CFIUS's review was biased due to Biden's long-standing opposition to the deal, depriving them of the right to a fair review. They asked a federal appeals court to overturn Biden's decision to allow them a new review to secure another chance to close the merger.
The US Treasury Secretary chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which examines foreign takeovers of US companies and other investment deals for national security concerns. CFIUS usually directly decides cases or makes recommendations to the president, but in the US-Nippon Steel case, the committee failed to reach consensus on whether Biden should approve or reject it, leaving the decision up to him. .
Biden and his Republican successor, Donald Trump, have expressed their opposition to the Japanese company's acquisition of the American steel maker, at a time when the two candidates are seeking union votes in the November elections, which Trump won.
CFIUS has rarely rejected deals involving the closely allied Group of Seven nations, which includes Japan.
