Biden Blocks US Steel Sales Of IDR 226.8 Trillion To Nippon Steel Japan

UNSPLASH/Saad Salim ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden, Friday (3/1), blocked US Steel's 14 billion US dollars (IDR 226.8 trillion) sale to Nippon Steel Japan, citing "critical" national security concerns and the need to maintain a "strengthened supply chain."

Biden has long opposed the sale. He said it "will put one of America's largest steel producers under foreign control and create risks to national security and our critical supply chain."

"It is my sincere responsibility as President to ensure that, now and in the future, America has a strong domestic steel industry that can continue to mobilize our national resources at home and abroad," he said in a statement quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Saturday, January 4.

"And it is fulfilling that responsibility to block foreign ownership of this vital American company," continued Biden,

"US Steel will remain a proud American company -- an American-owned and operated company, by American union steel workers -- the best in the world."

The president's decision was taken after the United States (CFIUS) Foreign Investment Committee failed to reach a consensus in mid-December over whether the proposed sale posed a national security risk, giving Biden 15 days to act.

President-elect Donald Trump also opposed the sale.

Neither US Steel nor the United Steelworkers union immediately commented on Biden's decision.