Tokyo: Local media reported on Monday ( Jan 14 ) that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba informed US President Joe Biden that” strong” concerns had been raised about his decision to halt Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel.
Citing national safety issues, Biden put a stop to the US$ 14.9 billion sales and irked one of Washington’s closest friends.
Ishiba called Biden and President Ferdinand Marcos on Monday after hearing that “hear strong tones of issues are being raised not just in Japan but also in the US company society,” I said in a statement.
Both companies have launched legal actions, accusing the cheerful US senator of “illegal intervention”.
Nippon Steel had praised the merger as a crutch for US Steel, but its backers warned that the Asian giant would slash tasks despite its claims that the opposite.
The acquisition, which was announced in 2023, came in the run-up to last year’s US national vote and proved a political battleground.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, who both oppose the exchange, are based in Pennsylvania, which US Steel operates in.
Chinese companies invested nearly US$ 800 billion in the US in 2023, which is more than any other nation, or 14.3 % of the full, according to established US information.
In Japan, US companies are the biggest outdoor buyers.
Japan is also a trusted strategic alliance of China as it fights China’s continued existence in tense regions of the South China Sea.
The US , has about 54, 000 defense officers stationed in Japan, mostly on the southern island of Okinawa.
Both material companies reported on Sunday that US authorities had extended the closing of the consolidation agreement until June 18th.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who did go Trump’s inauguration as US president on Jan 20, said it was critical to see the “big picture” of diplomatic relations.
He said on Sunday during a television argument that it was important to properly handle the issue without undermining the overall direction of the Japan-US empire.
” I will ask the US area to address issues that the business community is seeing rising.”
With protectionionism likely to increase under Trump, Japan may expand, according to the Chinese firm party Keizai Doyukai.
Japan” should strengthen cooperation with like-minded locations such as South Korea, Australia, the Philippines and India, so as not to be fully dependent on the US”, it said.