Fate of US Steel merger expected to be pushed beyond election day as politics cloud outlook

CNN —

As presidential politics cloud the outlook of US Steel’s merger with its Japanese rival, a national security review of the deal is now not expected to be decided until after the election, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which evaluates the national security risks posed by deals with foreign entities, is expected to deliver its recommendation to the White House after November 5, these people said.

That timeline is meant to ensure that any recommendation is made outside the pressure cooker of an election cycle, in which all political parties have come out against the deal.

US Steel’s share price climbed significantly Friday after The Washington Post first reported that White House officials are signaling President Joe Biden will not imminently move to block the deal. Shares of the Pittsburgh-based US Steel (X) were recently trading 5% higher.

As sitting president, Biden wields the ultimate decision power, and had signaled he would be prepared to block the deal if the committee did not reach a consensus view, as CNN has reported.

The consequences of that position may have grown in the last week, after US Steel responded that it would be forced to lay off workers and shutter mills without Nippon’s backing, and in the wake of the news that Biden would be hosting the Japanese prime minister at his home in Delaware next weekend.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during a White House visit in April, told reporters that the legal reviews would determine the deal’s outcome.

Several business groups sent a letter on Wednesday to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, warning of the risks of politicizing a process that is built to study national security risks