White House says sale of U.S. steel to Japanese firm may need ‘serious scrutiny’

The White House said Thursday that the sale of U.S. Steel to a Japanese firm “appears to deserve serious scrutiny” as political pressure mounts to scuttle the deal.

Nippon Steel Corp. said it will purchase U.S. Steel for $14.1 billion, an announcement Monday that is raising national security concerns among both parties in Congress. Approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, is a condition of the deal, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a statement by the Biden administration’s top economic adviser, the White House said the proposed sale “looks like” one that CFIUS “is set up to carefully investigate.”

“The purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign entity — one from a close ally — appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability,” said senior national economic adviser Lael Brainard in a statement.

Ms. Brainard said the administration is ready to “look carefully” at the findings of any investigation and take action “if appropriate.”

The statement, while seeming to stop short of a full-throated call for action, marks an about-face for President Biden’s administration. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged questions about the purchase.

“This could potentially be a regulatory review, I’m not going to speak to any specifics of this transaction. So I’m going to be very careful,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

This week, several prominent Democrats and union leaders, who have longtime ties to Mr. Biden came out strongly opposing the deal, ramping up political pressure on him to act.

Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, pledged Monday to block the sale, declaring it an “outrageous” move.

The United Steelworkers of America has demanded U.S. regulators review the deal to determine if it benefits workers and doesn’t risk national security. The Steelworkers union endorsed Mr. Biden in 2020, but so far has not said if they’ll back him in 2024.

Nippon Steel said it will honor “all collective bargaining agreements with the United Steel Workers Union,” and will keep the headquarters in Pittsburgh.