Nippon Steel pledges to move US HQ to US Steel’s Pittsburgh

TOKYO – Nippon Steel will move its US headquarters to Pittsburgh, where its acquisition target US Steel is based, if the deal goes through, an executive said, adding to the pledges from the Japanese steelmaker to secure the transaction.

Nippon Steel’s

proposed US$15 billion (S$20.1 billion) takeover of US Steel

has drawn sharp criticism in the United States, where President Joe Biden said last week that the asset should remain domestically owned, while his opponent in the November presidential vote, Donald Trump, promised to block the deal if he is re-elected.

The Japanese company, the world’s fourth-biggest steelmaker, has been in talks with United Steelworkers (USW), a labour union key for Mr Biden and Trump in the upcoming elections and which so far has been opposing the deal.

“Not only are we keeping the Pittsburgh headquarters – which other bidders would not be able to do – but we are also planning to move Nippon Steel’s existing US headquarters from Houston to Pittsburgh,” executive vice-president Takahiro Mori, Nippon Steel’s key negotiator on the deal, was quoted as saying.

In comments released in a US Steel document to the US Securities and Exchange Commission overnight, Mr Mori said his company remains engaged with USW and has offered a number of specific commitments on job security, investments and others.

Nippon Steel will honour all agreements currently in place between US Steel and USW, and will not cut jobs, close facilities or move more production overseas, Mr Mori reiterated. REUTERS