U.S. Steel workers and shareholders remain in limbo as to the status of its pending takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel, one week after President Trump suggested it was a done deal.
We may not get a White House decision today, despite widespread expectations to the contrary.
Under normal procedures, Trump is required to give approval or block a deal within 15 days of receiving a CFIUS recommendation. That's today.
But as we reported last month, CFIUS didn't plan to provide a traditional recommendation to Trump. Instead, it gave him information and analysis (even though Trump said last Friday that he hadn't even seen the final deal).
Thus, the 15-day deadline may be moot.
Nippon still hasn't confirmed that it's agreed to grant the U.S. a so-called "golden share" in the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, or guarantee that it's CEO would be a U.S. citizen.
Plus, Trump has shown a willingness to ignore mandated deadlines if deal negotiations are ongoing (e.g., TikTok), so it's not even clear that a traditional CFIUS requirement would have mattered.
The only date that really matters now is June 18, which is when the merger is slated to close.
Posted by John3262005
4 Comments
We will be waiting two weeks, not longer.
Its wild that the media reported this like 2 weeks ago like it had already happened.
Wait, I thought it already happened?
Honestly, they should just hire a Japanese-American as CEO as a compromise.