This is a pivotal moment for the future of American manufacturing. The United States must make the right decision.
U.S. Steel agreed over a year ago to be purchased by Japan’s Nippon Steel — a deal that is an extraordinary opportunity to secure the future of our company, invest in our communities and advance a more competitive, innovative and resilient steel industry. The deal would strengthen America’s global position by deepening an alliance with one of our strongest allies and allow us to better fight China’s blatant, unchecked manipulation of the market.
Since then, President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have said they oppose the deal, arguing that U.S. Steel should be American owned. Multiple news reports say a final decision from the Biden administration could come very soon.
I understand that the sale of an iconic company like U.S. Steel stirs deep emotions, and I share them. U.S. Steel is an institution that helped shape this nation. But as we honor our history, we must also confront today’s realities. U.S. Steel is no longer the industry leader it was in Andrew Carnegie’s era. We are only the third-largest steel maker in the United States and just 24th globally. Our employment peaked in 1943, and production peaked in 1953. Our primary customers now are auto companies and appliance manufacturers, not the military and infrastructure sectors that once defined us.
This deal is best for U.S. Steel — and the best for America. Indeed, it is the only option that would keep U.S. Steel intact.
We have received support from our steelworkers, local elected officials and our communities. Today we are calling on everyone with a stake in the success of this company and the future of the American steel industry to work together to do what is right and close this deal.
Nippon Steel has made significant commitments to our workers and to our facilities, which would be binding and legally enforceable.
Nippon Steel has promised that U.S. Steel would retain its name and headquarters in Pittsburgh as a domestically organized company. It would have an American management team, and Americans would account for a majority of its board. Nippon would invest nearly $3 billion in U.S. Steel’s union-represented facilities, secure over 4,000 jobs in Pennsylvania and Indiana and create roughly 5,000 more.
It would keep our products mined, melted and made in America, through commitments that Nippon Steel would not permanently idle U.S. Steel production facilities in America and that it would not import semifinished steel products, known as slabs.
In addition, it has committed to protect the best interests of U.S. Steel in foreign trade and defend the company against unfair practices. U.S. Steel could pursue its own trade agenda, regardless of Nippon Steel’s positions.
This is the future our employees and our country deserve. This is the future Nippon Steel offers and one that will not materialize without it. U.S. Steel does not have the resources to make these investments in our union-represented facilities. Absent this transaction, U.S. Steel will revert to a strategy it previously outlined, which involves focusing on its more efficient, nonunion facilities.
In an ironic twist, blocking this transaction would lead to the decline of facilities and jobs that both the steelworkers’ union’s top leaders and the Biden administration purport to want to save and would bring close to an end more than 100 years of Pittsburgh being the Steel City. Moreover, blocking this transaction would deprive the American steel industry of an opportunity to better compete on the global stage.
We operate in an industry under immense pressure — both from demands to make our operations more climate friendly and from the relentless oversupply of Chinese steel. These challenges require bold, strategic decisions. That is why U.S. Steel has pursued innovative, lower-cost and lower-carbon methods of steel making, charting a path to a more sustainable and competitive future.
This path made us an attractive acquisition target, and when our primary competitor, Cleveland-Cliffs, initiated a takeover bid last year, our board of directors undertook a review of the alternatives. It made the decision any responsible board would have done: to accept Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion offer.
Our competitors in China are paying as much attention to this transaction as we are, and they are hoping it fails. With this deal, our workers’ jobs would be more secure, our customers would be better served and China’s domination of global steel production would be weakened. Without it, we would become more vulnerable. We must not let that happen. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel stand ready to finalize the transaction and to secure a stronger future for American steel.
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