The grounds for stopping it are “security reasons” which I understand.
Even if we stop it, we need to address why US Steel Bankrupted to begin with. Unions and hostile business environments. Without that, nothing will change.
“Security reasons”??
Nippon, a Japanese company, is prepared to pay $14.9 billion and then invest over $7 billion. What’s the risk? That they’ll float the mills to Yokohama? That they’ll use them to produce Mitsubishi Zeros?
As to US Steel being bankrupt, it’s actually quite profitable. It made almost $400 million last year. It operates under the same union terms as the two other US majors, Cliffs and Nucor. If it were on the verge of bankruptcy, Nippon or any other bidder would just wait it out and acquire it by buying its indebtedness for pennies on the dollar.
The last American steel companies to declare bankruptcies were Wheeling Pittsburgh in 1985, LTV in 1986, and Bethlehem in 2001.
I wonder what those security reasons are beyond the whining of Cliffs Steele? Who just so happens to own the fabled Steel mill in Middletown; Ohio. Said mill was at one time owned by Kawasaki. There was no concern then when Kawasaki was funding the broken pension funds.
The Japanese have a habit of overpaying for US assets. Then dumping them later at depressed prices. We should encourage that. They have to do something with their the dollars generated by their trade surplus.
I’d be more concerned about Japanese ownership of 7-11 and Speedway.
Or be concerned about all the imported steel slabs Cliffs uses in their rolling mills. Of course most of the protected companies cry. “Tariffs for thee but not for me”.