Last Monday, former Secretary of State Pompeo published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal regarding Nippon Steel’s pending acquisition of U.S. Steel.
Back in April I also wrote a piece in the WSJ regarding this transaction—focusing on the public comments made by President Biden about the deal just as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States commenced its national security review of the acquisition.
My piece explained that there was no national security risk arising from the transaction, and that any attempt by the Biden Administration to block the deal through the CFIUS process would be improper, clearly not based on national security but rather election year politics, and would damage CFIUS’ national security mission going forward.
I also emphasized that the deal would actually enhance U.S. national security and bring us closer to our ally, Japan, at a critical time in geopolitics.
(My piece can be found here.)
Although Secretary Pompeo doesn’t expressly mention the CFIUS review, it’s great to see that we are in alignment on the positive impact of this deal on America and its national security. A couple of notable points from his piece:
– “Nippon Steel’s pending acquisition of U.S. Steel is a major step” in rebuilding “our domestic industrial base and reinvigorat[ing] our economy after years of high inflation and economic stagnation.”
– Arguments that the deal would harm national security “could be used as justification to block it by executive fiat. Far from imperiling our national security, foreign direct investment from our partners and allies amounts to a vote of confidence in the U.S. economy. . . . If we want to insulate our supply chains from China and build a global economic model that outperforms the Communist Party’s, we must embrace foreign direct investment from our partners and allies. Nippon Steel will advance this mission better than any other alternative.”
– “Our leaders shouldn’t squander a unique opportunity to strengthen the U.S. steel industry for years to come.”