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President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. Steel will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a “planned partnership” that seemed to signal that he’ll approve a bid by Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy the iconic American steelmaker.
Still, Trump’s statement left it vague as to whether he is approving Nippon Steel’s bid after he vowed repeatedly to block it. But investors seemed to take it as a sign that he would approve it, sharply pushing up U.S. Steel’s shares.
Nippon Steel’s nearly $15 billion bid to buy U.S. Steel was blocked by former President Joe Biden on his way out of office and, after Trump became president, subject to another national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Trump said in a statement that “after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh.”
What Trump called a “planned partnership” will create at least 70,000 jobs and add $14 billion to the U.S. economy, he said, although it wasn’t clear what the terms of the deal would be or who would own U.S. Steel under the arrangement.
Josh Spoores, the Pennsylvania-based head of steel Americas analysis for commodity researcher CRU, said he’s seeing “this ‘partnership’ is a green light for the acquisition.”
The companies didn’t immediately comment. Shares of U.S. Steel jumped 21% on the news, and continued rising in aftermarket trading.
Keeping U.S. Steel’s headquarters had always been part of Nippon Steel’s bid to buy it. On Monday, Reuters reported that Nippon Steel had upped its pledge to invest in U.S. Steel to $14 billion if the acquisition was approved. That commitment reportedly includes a new $4 billion steel mill, though a location for that facility was not known.
The Japanese steelmaker previously said it would invest $2.7 billion in U.S. Steel, including nearly $1 billion in the company’s Gary Works operation in northwest Indiana.
However, U.S. Steel’s CEO David Burritt warned last September that blocking Nippon Steel would mean U.S. Steel would “largely pivot away” and it would raise “serious questions” about remaining headquartered in Pittsburgh.
U. S. Steel’s board and stockholders approved Nippon Steel’s bid last year. It has been opposed by the United Steelworkers union. The union had no immediate comment Friday.
As recently as December, Trump said he was “totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company.”
Then in February, Trump suggested that Nippon Steel wouldn’t buy U.S. Steel, as it had planned, but that it would instead invest in U.S. Steel.
Last month, Trump ordered a new national security review of Nippon Steel’s proposed bid.
U.S. Steel founded the city of Gary in Indiana in 1906 with its Gary Works operation that at one time employed some 30,000 people. The steelmaker also operates the Midwest Plant in Portage and employs a total of about 4,000 people in Indiana.
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