WASHINGTON (AP) — Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging a Biden administration decision to block Nippon’s proposed $15 billion acquisition of the Pittsburgh company and said that the head of the Steelworkers union and a rival steelmaker worked together to scuttle the buyout.
In moving to block the transaction Friday, Biden said U.S. companies producing a large amount of steel need to “keep leading the fight on behalf of America’s national interests,” though Japan, where Nippon is based, is a strong ally.
In separate lawsuits filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the steelmakers allege that it was a political decision made by the Biden administration that had no rational legal basis.
“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,” the companies said in a prepared statement Monday.
Nippon Steel had promised to invest $2.7 billion in U.S. Steel’s aging blast furnace operations in Gary, Indiana, and Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley, and had said it is best positioned to help the U.S. compete in an industry dominated by the Chinese.