Investing.com– Nippon Steel Corp (TYO:5401) wants to work with the incoming Trump administration to win a takeover of U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), the latter’s Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.
Mori’s comments come just a week after Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed lawsuits against President Joe Biden for rejecting Nippon Steel’s $15 billion takeover of the U.S. firm.
Mori said he believed that Biden had blocked the deal over electoral politics instead of actual security concerns, and that he believed that the case against Biden’s decision was strong.
He added that Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel would do “whatever it takes” to close the deal. Both companies had offered the U.S. government several concessions to ease security concerns over the deal, including veto power over any changes to U.S. Steel’s production.
But Biden- who had consistently opposed the deal- struck it down last week, on concerns over national security and that it could result in job cuts in the U.S. steelmaker. Several major labor unions had also opposed the deal.
Trump- who will take office on January 20, has also voiced similar concerns over the deal.
Biden’s rejection of the deal was followed by reports that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE:CLF) and Nucor Corp (NYSE:NUE) were preparing a joint all-cash bid for U.S. Steel.