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Trump to visit U.S. Steel mill in Pennsylvania as Nippon deal finalized
President Trump will visit a U.S. Steel mill in the Pittsburgh suburbs Friday, a week after he announced a “planned partnership” between the company and its Japanese competitor Nippon Steel.
The deal will allow U.S. Steel’s headquarters to remain in Pennsylvania, according to Mr. Trump, who characterized the agreement last Sunday as “an investment” and “partial ownership” that will be “controlled” by the United States. The administration has released few details about the deal, however.
Mr. Trump’s announcement last week was the latest twist in Nippon’s yearslong effort to acquire U.S. Steel. Its nearly $15 billion bid to buy U.S. Steel was blocked by former President Joe Biden in January on national security grounds.
Mr. Trump, who opposed the acquisition during the 2024 campaign, has since warmed to a deal between the steel producers, touting a $14 billion investment that the president said would create at least 70,000 jobs.
Sen. David McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, provided more details on the agreement in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, saying that U.S. Steel would have an American CEO and a majority of its board members will be from the U.S., an arrangement that was also part of the deal rejected by Biden.
McCormick did raise one potential difference in the latest iteration, stating that the U.S. would have a golden share.
“It’s a national security agreement that will be signed with the U.S. government,” McCormick said. “There’ll be a golden share, which will essentially require U.S. government approval of a number of the board members and that will allow the United States to ensure production levels aren’t cut.”
McCormick said Nippon will have “certainly members of the board, and this will be part of their overall corporate structure.”
“They wanted an opportunity to get access to the U.S. market — this allowed them to do so and get the economic benefit of that,” McCormick said of Nippon. “They’ve negotiated it, it was their proposal.”
It is not yet clear whether the golden share provision involves any U.S. ownership of the merged companies.
The United Steelworkers union has opposed a sale, arguing that the Japanese company is making “flashy promises” that put American jobs at risk.
But without an acquisition, U.S. Steel had warned last year that the company would “largely pivot away” from its blast furnace facilities, which would put thousands of jobs in jeopardy. The company said the future of its headquarters in Pittsburgh was also uncertain without an agreement.
U.S. Steel employs about 22,000 people, with more than 14,000 employees in North America and the rest in Slovakia.
Trump announces
President Trump said Friday that U.S. Steel will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a “planned partnership” between the iconic American steelmaker and Japan-based Nippon Steel, which has sought to buy it.
Nippon Steel’s nearly $15 billion bid to buy U.S. Steel was blocked by former President Joe Biden. After Mr. Trump became president, it was subject to another national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
“I am proud to announce that, after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “For many years, the name, ‘United States Steel’ was synonymous with Greatness, and now, it will be again. This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy.”
The president also said he’ll hold a “BIG Rally” at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh on Friday, May 30.
The White House didn’t immediately offer further clarification, and U.S. Steel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The president’s post did not provide any additional details about the terms of the deal, and it was unclear would own U.S. Steel under the arrangement.
Mr. Trump has levied 25% tariffs on all foreign steel imports in an effort to keep industry players in the U.S.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy Foot Locker for $2.4 billion
Dick’s Sporting Goods is buying the struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for about $2.4 billion, the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over how U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs will impact companies that make many of their products overseas.
Dick’s said Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as a standalone unit and keep the Foot Locker brands, which include Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and Japanese sneaker brand atmos.
“Sports and sports culture continue to be incredibly powerful, and with this acquisition, we’ll create a new global platform that serves those ever evolving needs through iconic concepts consumers know and love, enhanced store designs and omnichannel experiences, as well as a product mix that appeals to our different customer bases,” Dick’s CEO Lauren Hobart said in a statement.
Skechers announced that it was being taken private earlier this month by the investment firm by 3G Capital in a transaction worth more than $9 billion.
Foot Locker shareholders can choose to receive either $24 in cash or 0.1168 shares of Dick’s common stock for each Foot Locker share that they own.
The footwear industry has been growing increasingly concerned over Trump’s trade war with other countries, particularly China. Athletic shoe makers have invested heavily in production in Asia.
Shares of sporting goods and athletic shoe companies have been under pressure all year. Foot Locker’s stock price has tumbled more than 40% this year. The company’s shares surged $10.78, or nearly 84%, to $23.65 before the start of trade on Thursday.
About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Using factories overseas has kept labor costs down for U.S. companies, but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb price increases due to new tariffs.
Foot Locker offers Dick’s a lot of potential, namely its huge real estate footprint, and would give the Pittsburgh company its first foothold overseas.
Foot Locker has about 2,400 retail stores across 20 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It also has a licensed store presence in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The company had global sales of $8 billion last year.
Dick’s said that it expects to close the Foot Locker deal in the second half of the year. The transaction still needs approval from Foot Locker shareholders.
Dick’s stock dropped more than 13% before the market open, while shares of Foot Locker surged more than 82%.