Nippon takeover block creates uncertainty for US workers

THE DECISION REFLECTS A GROWING BIPARTISAN SHIFT AWAY FROM FREE TRADE AND OPEN INVESTMENT

- AP [e-mail]

WASHINGTON: By blocking a Japanese company's takeover of US Steel, President Joe Biden said he was protecting good jobs in the American heartland. He may be putting them at risk instead.

In making its nearly $15 billion bid for the storied Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, Nippon Steel had promised to invest $2.7 billion in US Steel's aging blast furnace operations in Gary, Indiana, and Pennsylvania's Mon Valley. It also vowed not to reduce production capacity in the United States over the next decade without first getting US government approval.