PITTSBURGH—Despite Donald Trump’s promises that the deal would save jobs, the Steelworkers are at best very skeptical of Nippon Steel’s $14 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, and of Trump, too, who has gone back on his word and now supports the deal..
“Trust nothing until you see it in writing,” union President David McCall declared when he learned of the sale—and of Trump’s reversal to approve it—late on May 30.
Trump announced the sale to reporters while flying back from a speech in West Mifflin, Pa., at a U.S. Steel plant there. He admitted he hadn’t seen the details yet.
On the campaign trail last year, both Republican nominee Trump and his Democratic foe, Vice President Kamala Harris, opposed the sale. Harris’s boss, President Joe Biden, had vetoed it on national security grounds.
The Steelworkers consistently opposed the sale of the iconic steelmaker, which is now only #5 in now-shrunken U.S. steel production, to Nippon. They even lined up a competing U.S.-based bidder, #4 Cleveland Cliffs. But the USS board gave the union and that firm the cold shoulder.
The union didn’t trust Nippon’s past promises to increase investment in U.S. steel plants, keep the name, and keep the workers. Its track record on keeping such promises and its treatment of its workers is bad, the union noted then, and reiterated now.
Will enrich “insiders”
USW also previously pointed out the Nippon Steel purchase would greatly enrich insiders, specifically U.S. Steel’s chairman, CEO, and other capitalists who sit on its board—with no added dollars or job security for the workers.
After he re-entered the Oval Office in January, Trump ordered a Cabinet panel, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., to re-review the sale. Though their specific recommendation is unknown, Trump announced in a speech that he’s accepting it.
USW, speaking for the workers, having been shut out of the deliberations, isn’t.
“We have not participated in the discussions involving U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel, and the Trump administration, nor were we consulted, so we cannot speculate about the meaning of the ‘planned partnership’ between USS and Nippon or the ‘golden share’ that some politicians have claimed will be issued to the federal government,” McCall said.
“Whatever the deal structure, our primary concern remains with the impact this merger of U.S. Steel into a foreign competitor will have on national security, our members, and the communities where we live and work.
“When the second CFIUS review was announced, we communicated to the Trump administration our concerns and objections.
“Nippon has a long history of committing unfair trade practices. The International Trade Commission determined the company violated U.S. trade laws in 13 different trade cases. Just last month, the Department of Commerce imposed duties of more than 200% on Nippon for the illegal dumping of steel. Yet, despite ongoing injury and continuing penalties, Nippon is being rewarded.
“The USW’s only concern has been and continues to be the long-term viability and sustainability of the current USS facilities, so as to safeguard the current and future economic, employment, and retirement security of our members and their communities.
“There is a vast difference between public relations and putting commitments in writing, just as there is a vast difference between allowing shareholders and executives to cash out and putting workers’ interests first.
“Any final deal that may emerge from discussions between the merger parties and the federal government must be viewed through that lens, and not the lens of wishful thinking that has been adopted by far too many politicians and others.
“Issuing press releases and making political speeches is easy. Binding commitments are hard. The devil is always in the details, and that is especially true with a bad actor like Nippon Steel that has again and again violated our trade laws, devastating steel communities in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Nippon didn’t change its promised price for U.S. Steel, but that it’s now buying a partial share of the company, not all of it.
“There’s never been a $14 billion investment in the history of the steel industry in the United States,” Trump said Friday evening. “Most importantly, U.S. Steel will continue to be controlled by the U.S.A,” he claimed, without offering evidence of that. The CEOs of both U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel were with Trump on the steel plant stage, with hard-hatted workers in back of them.
Trump also announced his tariffs on imported steel and aluminum would double, to 50%, on June 4. With steel prices declining per ton, the Journal noted, it’s easier for steelmakers—including Nippon and U.S. Steel—to swallow the tariffs. The tariffs will also let US Steel, like other manufacturers that Trump’s tariffs threaten, raise prices to customers and consumers even higher, it said.
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