Josh_E

While no longer “news,” here are some quick points re: President Biden’s prohibition of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel following a CFIUS referral of the deal to him, which occurred after a full year of hand-wringing (the Order—with corrected caption—is here). Reaction to this decision—by the CFIUS bar, national security experts, and other informed […]

According to the FT, “President Joe Biden will block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel . . . . on national security grounds.” The WaPo echoes that reporting and adds that a “White House official declined to comment, but said in a statement that CFIUS had not yet transmitted its recommendation to the president.” When

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

Very significant news from the White House: “Order Regarding the Acquisition of Certain Real Property of Cheyenne Leads by MineOne Cloud Computing Investment I L.P.” My quick take: -The Biden Administration announced its first prohibition of a transaction under CFIUS authorities. -Based upon the limited facts contained in the President’s Executive Order, it seems a clear

The WaPo wrote last Thursday regarding Elon Musk, Twitter, and national security. The headline says China’s “hold” over Tesla created a national security risk related to . . . Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. A “dozen current and former officials involved in reviewing foreign investments” said the deal should concern national security leaders. The insinuation is

The Executive Order defining additional national security factors for CFIUS to consider when evaluating transactions has been published.  Important stuff, but it’s not yet clear to me why its contents weren’t better suited for promulgation by the Committee as formal guidance or regulatory revisions, or by the Treasury Secretary as the chair of the Committee.

This WSJ article is one illustration of, and an interesting perspective on, how hard it is to isolate a country through sanctions, even when multilateral. Major economies not aligned with those imposing sanctions can be a fly in the ointment when it comes to the sanctions’ effectiveness. “Russia last year increased its imports of semiconductors