Nippon Steel's Public Communications Regarding U.S. Steel Acquisition
On September 11th, Nippon Steel Corp., Japan's largest steelmaker, publicly released its communications with the United Steelworkers (USW), a trade union opposing Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel. This move aimed to gain approval for the deal from the U.S. administration.
The company published over 20 emails and other correspondences exchanged with the USW leadership since the acquisition announcement in December on a website jointly operated with U.S. Steel. These materials included emails to and from David McCall, president of the USW.
Media reports have indicated that the Biden administration plans to block the acquisition due to national security concerns.
In a statement on the website, Nippon Steel explained that it had kept the correspondence confidential until then to foster "good-faith negotiations." However, the company decided to share the communications "in light of the public mischaracterizations of our communications with the USW and the commitments we have offered." The statement did not elaborate on these alleged mischaracterizations.
"We hope that the disclosure of these materials will help U.S. Steel's employees and other stakeholders understand the full set of facts about our engagements with the USW," the statement concluded.