Japanese Nippon Steel has accused the White House of undue influence over a security review of its $14.9 billion acquisition of United States Steel, and threatened legal action if the deal is blocked, Reuters reported.
The accusation was made in a letter dated Dec. 17, signed by lawyers for Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the agency said, adding that it had seen the document making the allegations.
The agency said CFIUS has until Monday to decide whether to approve the deal, extend the review or recommend to President Joe Biden that it be scrapped.
The committee filed a 29-page letter late last week raising unresolved national security risks, paving the way for Biden, who has long opposed the deal, to block it, Reuters reported exclusively.
In their response, Nippon Steel and United States Steel alleged that Biden improperly interfered with the review before CFIUS had completed its study. The companies cited the position of American Steelworkers union president David McCaul, who voiced his opposition to the deal and endorsed Biden’s re-election shortly after the president announced his rejection of the merger, Reuters reported.
