JD Vance opposes sale of US Steel to Nippon

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said Monday that he opposes the sale of American-based manufacturing company U.S. Steel Corp. to Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel. 

“Today, a critical piece of America’s defense industrial base was auctioned off to foreigners for cash,” Vance said in a statement, adding that he had “warned of this outcome months ago.” 

“U.S. Steel announced the sale by celebrating the ‘certain and immediate value’ to be delivered to its shareholders,” Vance continued. “But rest assured that I will interrogate the long-term implications for the American people, and I will do everything in my power to protect the future of our nation’s security, industry, and workers.”

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Related stories from The Hill:

• Fetterman says he’ll work to block ‘absolutely outrageous’ US Steel sale
• Japan’s Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel Corp.

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Vance, who is serving his first term in the Senate, joined colleagues on the other side of the aisle in speaking against the sale. 

“A foreign company shouldn’t be able to swoop in, ignore the voices of union workers, and buy a major steel manufacturer behind closed doors,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

“Today’s announcement between Nippon & U.S. Steel is an insult to the American steelworkers who build our country.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) also expressed his disapproval of the sale, saying that the deal will greatly affect steelworkers in his home state. 

“The acquisition of @U_S_Steel by a foreign company is wrong for workers and wrong for Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said in an X post. “I’m gonna do everything I can to block it.”

Nippon acquired U.S. Steel in a $14.9 billion deal Monday, paying $55 per share in a cash transaction to purchase the American-based company. Nippon will also assume all of U.S. Steel’s debt.

Nippon cited the higher domestic demand for steel under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as one of the contributing factors in the deal.