Long-awaited good news arrived today for those seeking to avoid a rupture between the US and Japan over Nippon Steel's attempted purchase of US Steel (USS). The United Steelworkers Union (USW)--which, up until now, had acted in public as if it opposed the buyout under any conditions--signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Nippon Steel. That means that they will now engage in serious and secret negotiations in the hopes of reaching an agreement that would enable the USW to endorse the buyout. Moreover, according to clued-in observers, both sides would like to reach such an agreement before the November elections. That would pave the way for the Biden Administration to do what it has always wanted to be able to do: say that the deal poses no threats to national security under the rules of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CIFIUS), which investigates thousands of deals for any such problem.

For details, see https://richardkatz.substack.com/p/hope-for-a-deal-between-nippon-steel

Richard Katz

The Contest for Japan's Economic Future