US-Japan tiff over steel is survivable

The Nippon Steel case is not a pivot point in bilateral ties, but the 2024 presidential election potentially is.

- Denny Roy

In the heat of the campaign season for one of the tightest and most consequential elections in US history, US President Joe Biden as well as presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris appear to be disrespecting close US ally Japan by voicing opposition to a Japanese corporation's proposed purchase of struggling American steel maker US Steel.

Nippon Steel agreed to buy US Steel in December 2023 for double the price offered by another US company and by paying 40 per cent above US Steel's stock value.

Mr Biden said in March that US Steel is an "iconic" American company and "it is vital for it to remain... domestically owned and operated". Trump and Ms Harris similarly objected to the sale. Essentially, all of them argue that foreign ownership of US Steel would harm America's national security.

Mr Biden is waiting for the final report of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is reportedly leaning towards blocking the sale but may not announce its decision until after the Nov 5 election.

While national security is the ostensible rationale, the opposition of Mr Biden and the others to the proposed Nippon Steel deal seems based on electoral politics. The powerful United Steelworkers union, which claims to represent 850,000 workers, is against the sale, likely because it fears management by Nippon Steel would eventually reduce the number of unionised workers. Mr Biden and the others want union workers on their side.

Furthermore, any American politician immediately recognises the marketability of standing up for a company named after the US, as well as the vulnerability that would be incurred by an opponent who failed to do so.

SPECIOUS USE OF THE 'NATIONAL SECURITY' ARGUMENT

The apparent success of the national security argument in this case is disappointing.