Trump holding Pennsylvania rally to promote deal for Japan-based Nippon to ‘partner’ with US Steel

HARRISBURG Pa AP President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U S Steel which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U S -control Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U S Steel he changed lesson and publicized an agreement last week for what he described as partial ownership by Nippon It s not clear though if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company which is seen as both a political symbol and an pivotal matter for the country s supply chain industries like auto manufacturing and national precaution Trump who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the U S since retaking the White House is also trying to satisfy voters including blue-collar workers who elected him as he called to protect U S manufacturing U S Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors Nippon Steel issued a announcement approving of the proposed partnership but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement State and federal lawmakers who have been briefed on the matter describe a deal in which Nippon will buy U S Steel and spend billions on U S Steel facilities in Pennsylvania Indiana Alabama Arkansas and Minnesota The company would be overseen by an executive suite and board made up mostly of Americans and protected by the U S cabinet s veto power in the form of a golden share In the absence of clear details or affirmation from the companies involved the United Steelworkers union which has long opposed the deal this week questioned whether the new arrangement makes any meaningful change from the initial proposal Nippon has maintained consistently that it would only invest in U S Steel s facilities if it owned the company outright the union mentioned in a announcement We ve seen nothing in the reporting over the past minimal days suggesting that Nippon has walked back from this position The White House did not offer any new details Thursday U S Steel did not respond to messages seeking information Nippon Steel also declined to comment No matter the terms the issue has outsized importance for Trump who last year repeatedly declared he would block the deal and foreign ownership of U S Steel as did former President Joe Biden Trump promised during the campaign to make the revitalization of American manufacturing a priority of his second term in office And the fate of U S Steel once the world s largest corporation could become a political liability in the midterm elections for his Republican Party in the swing state of Pennsylvania and other battleground states dependent on industrial manufacturing Trump declared Sunday he wouldn t approve the deal if U S Steel did not remain under U S control and reported it will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh In an interview on Fox News Channel on Wednesday Pennsylvania Republican Rep Dan Meuser called the arrangement strictly an capital a strategic partnership where it s American-owned American run and remains in America However Meuser stated he hadn t seen the deal and added that it s still being structured Pennsylvania Republican Sen David McCormick came out in favor of the plan calling it great for the domestic steel industry Pennsylvania national protection and U S Steel s employees A bipartisan group of senators joined by then-Senate candidate McCormick had opposed Nippon Steel s initial proposed purchase of U S Steel for billion after it was released in late In fresh days Trump and other American agents began touting Nippon Steel s new commitment to invest billion on top of its billion bid including building a new electric arc furnace steel mill somewhere in the U S Pennsylvania s other senator Democrat John Fetterman who lives across the street from U S Steel s Edgar Thomson Steel Works blast furnace didn t explicitly endorse the new proposal But he mentioned he had helped jam up Nippon Steel s original bid until Nippon coughed up an extra B The planned golden share for the U S amounts to three board members approved by the U S leadership which will essentially ensure that U S Steel can only make decisions that ll be in the best interests of the United States McCormick stated Tuesday on Fox News Gov Josh Shapiro a Democrat who is seen as a feasible presidential candidate had largely refrained from publicly endorsing a deal but revealed at a news conference this week that he was cautiously optimistic about the arrangement In an interview published Thursday in the conservative Washington Examiner Shapiro noted The deal has gotten better The prospects for the future of steelmaking have gotten better Chris Kelly the mayor of West Mifflin Pennsylvania where U S Steel s Irvin finishing plant is located revealed he was ecstatic about the deal though he acknowledged several details were unknown He disclosed it will save thousands of jobs for his area It s like a reprieve from taking steel out of Pittsburgh he mentioned