Hands off U.S. Steel: Trump says he would keep Japan from buying it

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would stop the sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese company set to buy it.

“I would block it instantaneously. Absolutely,” Mr. Trump told reporters after his meeting with Teamsters’ leaders in Washington. “We saved the steel industry. Now U.S. Steel is being bought by Japan. So terrible.”

In December, Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp. said it agreed to buy United States Steel Corp. for $14.1 billion, a deal that will be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The pending pact was met with disdain from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. J.D. Vance, Ohio Republican, and Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat.

Mr. Trump said his stand against the Nippon deal is part of his protection of American companies. He backed that up as president, imposing 25% tariffs on steel imports.

“We want to bring jobs back to the country, and sometimes tariffs can do that,” he said.

After his meeting with Teamsters’ leadership, he said, “I’ve employed thousands and thousands of Teamsters, and they’ve done a great job, especially in New York where we have a lot of unions. We’re with Sean O’Brien and [Secretary-Treasurer] Fred Zuckerman, and they’re terrific people, great leaders, actually. And I think we had a very productive meeting.”

Mr. O’Brien, the Teamsters’ president, said the meeting between Mr. Trump and rank-and-file workers went well.

“We had a long conversation and dialogue about right to work, [Protecting the Right to Organize Act], making it easier to organize, supporting workers’ rights legislation, working together on bankruptcy reform,” he said. “Today’s dialogue was basically about putting our issues out on the table and letting people know, letting the candidates know how important these issues are. And this is what is going to determine an endorsement or nonendorsement.”

Mr. O’Brien added, “This is gonna be the most important decision under our administration, the O’Brien-Zuckerman administration, so we need to get it right. And the way we’re gonna get it right is the inclusiveness and transparency of our 1.3 million rank-and-file members.”

• Vaughn Cockayne contributed to this story.