Sept 11 (Reuters) - A number of U.S. business groups on

Wednesday sounded the alarm that the Biden administration's

national security review of Nippon Steel's ( NISTF ) planned $14.9 billion

acquisition of U.S. Steel is being unduly influenced by

political pressure.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States

(CFIUS) told the companies in an Aug. 31 letter seen by Reuters

the deal would damage American steel production. The groups,

including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Alliance for Automotive

Innovation, National Foreign Trade Council and United States

Council for International Business, told Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen that they "fear that the CFIUS process is being

used to further political agendas that are outside the

committee's purview and putting the U.S. economy and workers at

risk."