Nippon Steel CEO doubles down on pledge to acquire U.S. Steel after suing Biden administration

Japan's Nippon Steel CEO reiterated Tuesday that the company was not giving up on its takeover of U.S. Steel, a day after it sued the Joe Biden administration over blocking the proposed merger.

U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel announced Monday that they had initiated two lawsuits following the Biden administration's decision to block Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion acquisition of the American steelmaker.

In a statement accompanying the lawsuits, the two companies said they remained confident that the deal was "the best path forward to secure the future of U. S. Steel" and emphasized their right to pursue the merger.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Nippon Steel's chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto doubled down on that stance.

"There is no reason or need to give up on (the takeover). We simply cannot accept it," Hashimoto said at the press conference.

According to Reuters' translations, Hashimoto emphasized that he would never give up on expanding operations in the U.S., and was not considering any alternative plan aside from the company's current pursuit of U.S. Steel.

Last Friday, Biden officially blocked Japan's Nippon Steel from acquiring U.S. Steel, fulfilling his pledge to keep an industrial name that is over a century old under U.S. ownership.

Both companies have approached the federal court to overturn Biden's decision.

In a statement released Monday, both parties claimed that Biden influenced the decision of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, which evaluates foreign investments for potential national security threats, and breached the companies' right to an impartial review.

"As a result of President Biden's undue influence to advance his political agenda, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United