US Steel Warns Its Sale Had Better Go Through

You can count President Biden, former President Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris as being in agreement on at least one thing—all are against the proposed sale of US Steel to a decidedly non-US steelmaker, Japan's Nippon Steel. But as the Wall Street Journal reports, US Steel CEO David Burritt is coming out with some dire predictions if the $14.1 billion sale fails to go through: namely that he would be forced to close steel mills in the US, and perhaps move the company's headquarters out of Pittsburgh, which, you know, has an NFL team named after the city's storied industry with the metal. More:

• Those mills: They include one in Gary, Indiana, and one just outside Pittsburgh. Both have outdated infrastructure, and Burritt says he needs the $2.7 billion Nippon has said it'll invest in aging mills to keep the mills' jobs in place. "We wouldn't do that if the deal falls through," Burritt said. "I don't have the money."

• From Nippon: The world's No. 4 steel producer has recently doubled the amount of cash it says it would invest in aging plants to that $2.7 billion and had promised to keep worker layoffs off the table until 2026 and keep the current headquarters in Pittsburgh. Its offer was for $55 a share in US Steel; the company stock closed down 6% on Tuesday to $35.60.
• More from Burritt: He called the opposition to the deal "puzzling and confusing," and is planning to rally workers on Wednesday in support of the sale.
• About those workers: The United Steelworkers union is also against the deal. US Steel nixed an upgrade to the Pittsburgh plant in 2021 and shifted resources to a non-union plant it was buying in Arkansas. Since 2020, US Steel has cut unionized jobs by 4,000. CNN reports, however, that Burritt's threat could produce enough pressure on the union to get behind the sale. The union responded by calling US Steel's stance "baseless and unlawful threats," and "a last gasp and desperate effort to save a merger on life support."
• About that Arkansas mill: US Steel is already shifting more production southward and Burritt says it will do so even more if the deal falls through. Of the Pittsburgh headquarters, Burritt says, "If that mill won't make it to the next decade, why would we stay there?"

(More US Steel stories.)