U.S. Business Groups Ask Treasury Not To Politicize Nippon Steel Deal

A coalition of Washington-based business groups have sent a joint letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, urging her not to politicize the ongoing review of Nippon Steel Corp.'s planned acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp, Kyodo News reported.

The move comes as President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly in the final stages of deciding whether to block Nippon Steel’s $14.1 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel. I Photo: U.S. Steel

The letter was sent to Yellen, who heads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), responsible for overseeing the review. Nippon Steel is believed to be making last-ditch efforts to prevent its deal with U.S. Steel from falling apart.

"Unfortunately, there have been persistent attempts recently to politicize the committee's work from across the political spectrum, allowing politics to undermine the clear and narrow statutory mandate of national security," the letter stated.

The groups, including the Global Business Alliance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Foreign Trade Council, were joined by the Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren.

The move comes as President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly in the final stages of deciding whether to block Nippon Steel’s $14.1 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel. Nippon Steel, the world’s fourth-largest producer, and U.S. Steel, the 24th-largest, announced the deal in December.