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Biden blocked merger over national security concerns

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Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) made $14.9 billion bid for US Steel in 2023

By Trevor Hunnicutt, Nandita Bose

Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on

Friday he would not mind if Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) took a

minority stake in U.S. Steel, but noted the Japanese

company was considering purchases of U.S. Steel's debt.

Trump's remarks were made to reporters at the White House

days after the Republican president ruled out a purchase of the

struggling American steelmaker by the Japanese giant.

"Minority stake I wouldn't mind greatly," Trump said in

response to a question on whether he would support such a move

by Nippon.

"What they're doing right now is they're going to be

investors, and they're going to be investing in, I think, debt

and various other things," Trump added.

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

requests for comment.

Nippon Steel ( NISTF ) made a $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel in

December 2023, ultimately promising billions of dollars in

investment to revamp its aging infrastructure and pledging to

keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The deal faced political headwinds from the get-go, with both

Trump and his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden vowing to kill

the transaction in a bid to appeal to voters in the election

swing state of Pennsylvania, after the union representing U.S.

Steel's employees, United Steelworkers, expressed opposition to

the merger.

The proposed tie-up was blocked by the Biden administration

over national security concerns. But the parties have asked the

courts to toss out the block, saying Biden unfairly intervened

in a national security review to benefit himself politically,

poisoning the process.

The White House during the Biden administration defended the

review.

A Japanese government spokesperson said this week that Nippon

Steel ( NISTF ) is considering proposing a bold change in plan from its

previous approach of seeking to buy U.S. Steel.