Washington points to Golden Share in the agreement, Senator USA
He raises numerous doubts, among investors and public opinion in Japan, the purpose of the acquisition project of Nippon Steel of the American Us Steel, with the details still in the definition phase after the multiple reversals that have taken place since December 2023. In a recent speech at the plant of the American company in Pennsylvania, the president Donald Trump has defined Nippon Steel a “great partner” and said the two Steel manufacturers will form an “extraordinary report”, without however offering details on the agreement, which has never described as the acquisition desired by the Japanese company.
“The most important thing is that Us Steel will continue to be controlled by the United States. Otherwise I would not have made the agreement,” Trump said, after always opposing the offer of over 14 billion dollars during the election campaign of 2024, like his predecessor Joe Biden, citing national security reasons. On his return to the White House Trump, he told journalists that “has yet to approve the final agreement between the two steel producers”. The Foreign Investment Commission will have to conduct another review of the Nippon Steel proposal, and once completed Trump will have time until Thursday to decide whether to accept the Nippon Steel requests.
The offer for the acquisition of Us Steel provides that the US government obtains a so -called Golden Share, a somewhat unique control structure that will allow it to approve the members of the Board of Directors, although it does not appear clear if these clauses are actually necessary to obtain the green light for the acquisition. In this regard, Pennsylvania’s republican senator, Dave McCormick, said that these measures will guarantee that the production levels are not reduced and that American jobs are protected: “This is a national security agreement that will be signed with the US government. There will be an US CEO, and a board of directors under the US majority”. According to the Japanese media, however, it is not yet clear how the board of directors of an US branch can force Nippon to invest the money, while the same union United Steelworkers confirmed in a press release that he had not participated in any discussion with the White House or with the company, and not to know what the final agreement includes. Neither Us Steel or Nippon Steel have made public statements about the merger.
