May 9 (Reuters) - Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) Vice Chairman

Takahiro Mori is headed to Washington next week as the company

seeks to win approval of its $15 billion bid for U.S. Steel

, a person familiar with the matter said.

Semaphor, which first reported news of the visit, said

Mori would meet with Trump administration officials during the

trip, citing sources.

U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) did not immediately respond to

requests for comment.

Former President Joe Biden blocked the proposed tie-up

in January citing unspecified national security concerns related

to a national security review of the deal led by the Committee

on Foreign Investment in the US.

After the decision, the two companies sued CFIUS, which

scrutinizes foreign investments for national security risks,

alleging that Biden had prejudiced the committee's decision and

violated the companies' right to a fair review.

They argued Biden did so in 2024 by expressing

opposition to the deal when he was running for re-election to

win support from the United Steelworkers union in the swing

state of Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is headquartered. The

Biden administration had defended the review as essential to

protecting security, infrastructure, and supply chains.

In April, President Donald Trump

directed CFIUS to take a fresh look

at the merger to help determine if "further action" is

appropriate, raising hopes that the deal could gain an elusive

green light.

But Trump has since doubled down

on comments expressing opposition to the deal, saying later

that month that he didn't think a foreign company should control

U.S. Steel, dimming hopes for approval.