USW urges Trump to block ‘disastrous’ Nippon Steel-US Steel merger

Published by:Alesha Alkaff<>
22 May 2025 @ 19:45 UTC

The sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel, if it succeeds, will be a disaster for American steel workers, national security and the future of American manufacturing, the United Steelworkers (USW) union said in a letter on Thursday May 22, urging US President Donald Trump to block the deal.

President Trump has publicly pledged to block this sale since January 2024. We now urge him to act decisively, shutting the door once and for all on this corporate sellout of American Steelworkers and defending US manufacturing, the USW said in the letter.
The USW union has been a vehement opposer of the merger since it was first announced in December 2023, claiming in a series of announcements that Nippon Steel is a serial trade cheater.
“For decades, Nippon has been dumping its products into our markets, costing us thousands of good, community-supporting jobs and undermining our steelmaking capabilities, David McCall, USW’s international president, said on Thursday.
McCall added: It is simply absurd to think that we could ever entrust the future of one of our most vital industries — essential to both national defense and critical infrastructure — to a company whose unfair trade practices continue to this day.
Nippon Steel declined Fastmarkets’ request for comment, and US Steel did not respond to the request.
The letter comes a day after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) reportedly submitted a recommendation to Trump on the Japanese company’s $14.9 billion bid for US Steel after concluding its second national security review.
The first review was blocked by former President Joe Biden in January.
Trump now has 15 days to decide the fate of the transaction.
While it is currently unclear which direction the deal will take, it is notable that the president has previously said that Nippon Steel will heavily invest in US Steel rather than buy it.
Most recently, Nippon Steel pledged a new $4 billion US Steel millas part of a $14 billion investment package to sweeten the deal, according to a May 19 media report.