The Trump administration official stated that the plan by the United States Steel Corporation to close one of its plants in Illinois was blocked by the US, a move that underscored the federal government’s continued intervention into an iconic American company despite giving permission to be taken over by a Japanese firm, Nippon Steel Corporation.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal was the first to report the move, and then the confirmation of the condition of anonymity was made by the official.
On Friday, US Steel Corporation states, “US Steel will continue to supply slabs to Granite City. As we shared earlier, our goal was to maintain flexibility, and we are pleased to have found a solution to continue to slab consumption at Granite City.”
After a year and a half of negotiations on a controversial transaction, Nippon Steel closed its $14.1 billion takeover of US Steel in June after it became a political spotlight in the 2024 presidential race.
President Donald Trump gave the green light to the move that made the world’s second-largest steelmaker, following concessions by Nippon Steel, such as a “golden share” scheme that grants the administration an influence in some of the business operations.
On Friday, the Journal cited Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick telling US Steel Chief Executive Officer Dave Burritt that Trump was exercising the golden share to continue operations at the Granite City plant, referencing someone with knowledge of the situation.
The deal was opposed by Trump and his Democratic challengers in the 2024 elections, though the president changed his mind after he came to power, stating that the deal would save steel jobs in the US.
The Japanese company also declared its intention to invest an extra $11 billion by 2028 to get the deal. Nippon had earlier increased its promised extra investment in an attempt to gain the support of Trump.
US Steel has recently announced that it would prioritize manufacturing and processing steel slabs in two other plants and use fewer slabs from the Granite City plant in Illinois. It stated that the Granite City plant would remain in a functioning condition and that no workers would be retrenched or their salaries would be reallocated, positioning the move as one that would enable “maintain future flexibility, while maximizing our domestic production footprint.”
In a statement on Friday, the United Steelworkers alleged that US Steel had attempted before retreating to “wiggle out of its commitments and make the kind of changes we warned were coming.”
The Union stated that “In addition to our mills, there are two idled blast furnaces in Granite City that could easily help our nation meet its steel needs.”
