The last-ditch efforts to win over critics of the Nippon-U.S. steel deal

The takeover bid has run into opposition from politicians and union leaders as well as skepticism from investors

- Bob Tita

In a meeting room facing the century-old U.S. Steel plant, Takahiro Mori offered his vision for the plant's next chapter under a new owner. Flanked by steelworkers and city leaders, the vice chairman of Japan's Nippon Steel last week pledged to invest nearly $950 million in U.S. Steel's largest mill. Nippon Steel also offered bonuses to all U.S. Steel employees, amounting to $20 million for workers in Gary.

Mori was winning the room at City Hall. He hasn't had the same luck in Washington, D.C., where political leaders control the deal's fate.

A year has passed since Nippon Steel announced that it would buy U.S. Steel for $14.1 billion. The takeover bid has run into opposition from politicians and union leaders as well as skepticism from investors. Now the steel market is weak, and the clock is winding down on a national-security review that could precede President Biden's blocking the deal.

While Biden has yet to block the takeover formally, the White House last week reiterated his position that U.S. Steel should be domestically owned and operated. President-elect Donald Trump has similarly rejected the Pittsburgh-based company's being sold to a foreign company, warning Nippon Steel in a Dec. 2 social-media post: "Buyer Beware!"

Investor sentiment in U.S. Steel is souring. Shares closed Wednesday at $30.98, the lowest level since September and well below the $55 price that U.S. Steel shareholders approved in April.

If the deal collapses, U.S. Steel Chief Executive Officer Dave Burritt has warned that the company can't match Nippon Steel's planned investments, and would likely close plants and move its headquarters out of Pittsburgh.

Union opposition