Tokyo-based Nippon Steel has pledged to make additional investments in Pittsburgh-area U.S. Steel facilities, if its purchase of the iconic Pennsylvania company passes a federal review.
Announced Wednesday, the new $1.3 billion commitment would create more productive and cleaner blast furnaces for the USS Mon Valley Works, said Nippon Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori in a statement.
“We seek to provide the highest-quality American-made steel products to American customers, fueled by American workers, while also securing American steel supply for the future,” Mori said.
The company also pledged $300 million in upgrades for U.S. Steel’s plant in Gary, Indiana — spending that will be added to a previous $1.4 billion commitment to union-represented facilities.
United Steelworkers union representatives, who have opposed the USS sale since the outset, weren’t impressed by the new promise.
“At the end of the day, a press release is not a contract,” said USW president David McCall in a statement Wednesday.
Union workers’ misgivings about the deal include worries about its impact on pension benefits and national security, and McCall wrote, “Nippon is still trying to hide behind its North American shell company to shield itself from its contractual obligations to retirees and our communities. This is just more of what we've seen all along: lots of words, no real change.”
In a video message to union members earlier this month, McCall expressed worries that a merger would involve Nippon’s North American subsidiary, not the parent company in Japan.
“When we have issues with our collective bargaining agreement, it’s not going to be that ultimate parent” negotiating, McCall said on Aug. 9. “That concerns us.”
Nippon repeatedly said it expects to close the acquisition of U.S. Steel by the end of this year. But the deal has been opposed by state and federal Democrats and Republicans alike, including President Joe Biden and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Supporters of the merger include senior executives at both companies involved and the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, who denounced Trump’s recent comments opposing the sale.
Vice President Kamala Harris has not spoken directly on the deal since accepting the Democratic Party presidential nomination. She and Biden are expected to address supporters on Labor Day in Pittsburgh, amid a push for union support.
Word of Nippon’s commitment surfaced during a press event on domestic manufacturing earlier this week. U.S. Senator John Fetterman intimated the firm was pledging an additional billion-dollar investment in western Pennsylvania. He offered no details but said the move came when Western Pennsylvania Democrats helped “jam that up.”
Whether local officials will change their posture now was unclear Thursday afternoon: State lawmakers whose districts include U.S. Steel facilities in Braddock, Clairton and West Mifflin did not immediately respond to WESA’s request for comment.
