Nippon Steel’s Mori to Meet With Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro

Wedoany.com Report-Nov 20,   A top Nippon Steel Corp. executive is set to meet Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, an ally of President Joe Biden, to tout how his company’s proposed $14.1 billion takeover of United States Steel Corp. could benefit the state.

Nippon Steel Vice President Takahiro Mori is scheduled to meet the governor Tuesday afternoon to present an internal assessment of the longer-term impacts of its takeover on Pittsburgh’s plants and the knock-on effects for trade unions, according to people familiar with Mori’s plans, who asked not to be identified discussing a private meeting.

The rest of the meeting will be used to inform Shapiro on the vows Nippon Steel made to the United Steelworkers, including expanded investments in plants to add jobs.

The meeting is important not only because Shapiro is close to President Joe Biden and is viewed as being able to help steer views on a foreign takeover opposed by the president. Shapiro, a Democrat who hasn’t publicly supported or opposed the deal, has been acting as something of a behind-the-scenes mediator. His office said in September he was working “with all parties to find a solution that protects Pennsylvania jobs.”

While Biden has said that US Steel should remain American-owned and vowed to kill the deal, a US security panel granted Nippon Steel permission to refile its plan for a takeover. The CFIUS decision deadline has been pushed to December. Nippon Steel had been trying to secure a face-to-face meeting with Shapiro for a while, according to the people, but the governor’s focus on November’s presidential election in a critical battleground state took priority.