Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's order to block the nearly $15 billion deal for the Japanese company to buy the American steelmaker.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asks the court to set aside an order by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and President Biden to block the sale.
The companies also filed a second lawsuit against competitor Cleveland-Cliffs, its CEO Lourenco Goncalves, and United Steelworkers President David McCall. It accuses them of illegally coordinating to prevent the transaction and undermining U.S. Steel’s ability to compete.
"From the outset of the process, both Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have engaged in good faith with all parties to underscore how the Transaction will enhance, not threaten, United States national security, including by revitalizing communities that rely on American steel, bolstering the American steel supply chain, and strengthening America’s domestic steel industry against the threat from China," the companies said in a prepared statement Monday. "Nippon Steel is the only partner both willing and able to make the necessary investments."
US STEEL CEO: GOVERNMENT FAILED OUR COUNTRY AFTER NIPPON STEEL DEAL AXED
Biden blocked the deal on Friday, citing national security concerns – a rationale that has sparked pushback.
U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt warned that if the firm's acquisition by Nippon Steel fell through, the company would likely close steel mills in Pennsylvania's Monongahela Valley and Gary, Indiana, that had been slated to receive a multi-billion-dollar upgrade with cash infused by Nippon following the completion of the sale.
"We did everything right as a company with Nippon," Burritt told Fox Business correspondent Lydia Hu in an interview on Monday. "We did everything right. The government failed us. They failed because they didn't follow the process. And we're going to right that wrong. They failed our workers. They failed our communities. They failed our country. They failed our best ally in Asia. And they've emboldened China by not following the rule of law."
DOES NIPPON STEEL'S BID TO BUY US STEEL THREATEN NATIONAL SECURITY? EXPERTS WEIGH IN
Nippon Steel had pledged to invest $2.7 billion in U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works and the Gary Works as part of a modernization project aimed at making the facilities more competitive with international rivals. Nippon also said it would preserve the name, brand and headquarters of U.S. Steel and refrain from layoffs through 2026 had the deal gone through.
Before accepting Nippon's offer, U.S. Steel turned down Cleveland-Cliffs' $7 billion buyout offer in 2023.
Nippon and U.S. Steel said in a press release Monday that Biden used "undue influence to advance his political agenda."
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The companies, however, also face the incoming Trump administration, which has also vowed to block the deal.
Fox Business' Lydia Hu, Eric Revell and Yael Halon contributed to this report.
This is a breaking new story; check back for updates.
