Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, all Republicans, sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chair of the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) Janet Yellen urging CFIUS to block the acquisition of U.S. Steel Corporation.
Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation is set to acquire U.S. Steel Corporation, one of America’s leading steel companies, despite alternative offers from multiple American steel companies and consortiums of investors.
The steel industry remains critical to the United States for manufacturing, defense, and other critical capabilities. The Republican Senators believe that allowing a leading steel company to be controlled by a foreign nation, even an ally, raises serious economic and national security concerns, especially since there are viable options to maintain American ownership.
“Allowing foreign companies to buy out American companies and enjoy our trade protections subverts the very purpose for which those protections were put in place,” the letter stated.
“The Committee cannot rebalance American trade or reshape its corporate governance, but it can mitigate some of the worst consequences of both. It can and should block the acquisition of U.S. Steel by NSC, a company whose allegiances clearly lie with a foreign state and whose record in the United States is deeply flawed.”
Read the full text of the letter:
Rubiotreasuryletter1
