WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) -

Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) and the Trump administration on

Thursday asked a U.S. appeals court to extend a pause in their

litigation for eight days, to give them more time to reach a

deal allowing the Japanese firm to move forward with its $14.9

billion bid for U.S. Steel.

The court is likely to approve an extension of the

pause, first granted on April 7 when President Donald Trump

ordered a second national security review of the proposed

tie-up. That pause was set to expire on June 5.