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Chicago Tribune
9 hours ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Environmental activists explain concerns with U.S. Steel deal
About one week after a partnership between U.S. Steel and a Japanese company was finalized, environmental activists called on the companies to address the health, climate and economic impacts of the deal. 'It's our conclusion that, whether in Japan or the United States, emissions from blast furnaces cannot be significantly mitigated,' said Roger Smith, Asia lead at SteelWatch. 'The company should transition to a renewable energy-based approach that would achieve its net-zero target and fulfill its obligations as a leading global steelmaker.' Speakers at a press conference organized by the Sierra Club highlighted their concerns with blast furnaces, which Nippon Steel has previously said is a technology it plans to invest in through the deal. A more environmentally friendly alternative is a direct reduction furnace to create iron ore and then an electric arc furnace to create steel, Smith said. 'This is already in commercial use in the United States, the Middle East and beyond,' Smith said. 'Switching from fossil fuel to green hydrogen and powering the electric arc furnace with renewable energy can nearly eliminate emissions from this production method.' U.S. Steel released a statement in response to the Tuesday event, saying environmental stewardship is a core value, and they're committed to protecting its workers. 'The finalization of the partnership is just the first step in an integration process that will take time to complete,' said a U.S. Steel spokesperson in an email. 'There are still many things to be determined about how the companies will come together. We will share relevant information as this process continues.' Other participants expressed their concerns with the steel deal, including Matt Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, a Pittsburgh-based coalition that fights for better air quality. Mehalik wants Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel to make it their highest priority to end severe health impacts in Pennsylvania's Mon Valley. 'Real progress will only come when public health and community revitalization are treated as non-negotiable priorities for this new deal,' Mehalik said. 'There have been too many years of promise breaking and too much emphasis on short-term investments that continue to perpetuate community health harms and workforce anxiety.' Northwest Indiana activists asked for the same priority to be given in the region. An October report from Industrious Labs found that most residents in Gary are in the top 10% of U.S. residents most at-risk for developing asthma and at-risk of low life expectancy. In 2020, Indiana had a lung cancer rate of 72.5 per 100,000 people, with Lake County as one of the state's counties with the highest cancer mortality rates, according to the American Lung Association. A 2016 JAMA Network report also found Gary as one of the top five U.S. cities with the lowest life expectancy at one point. Dorreen Carey, president of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, participated in Tuesday's conference, saying she believes now is the time to initiate newer steelmaking technologies. 'If investments are not made now in newer technologies, the long-term survival of Gary Works and the jobs it provides are in jeopardy,' Carey said. '(GARD) and the people who live in Gary want a clean environment, the good jobs a steel mill can provide and sustainable economic development. Investing in direct reduction ironmaking will provide a cleaner, greener future for the city of Gary, and we urge Nippon to commit to these investments.' Susan Thomas, director of policy and press for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said Tuesday night that the region is 'an epicenter of toxic air pollution.' 'Globally, this tragedy is preventable,' Thomas said. 'We say to Nippon Steel, you have an opportunity and a responsibility to become a global leader in clean steelmaking technology here and now. It is urgent that you do so, for if you prolong the lives of coal-burning blast furnaces, you will be diminishing ours.' Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel announced June 18 that they have finalized the 'historic partnership,' according to the Associated Press, making the combined company the world's fourth-largest steelmaker. On May 23, President Donald Trump announced that he would approve an investment from the Japanese company to U.S. Steel, according to Post-Tribune archives. Through the partnership, the U.S. government receives 'a golden share,' which allows de facto rights on company decisions and appointments. The 'golden share' seemingly fixes national security concerns previously outlined by former President Joe Biden and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Before leaving office, Biden denied the deal. Both Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris said during campaigns that they planned to block the steel deal. Through the partnership, the Northwest Indiana Gary Works facility should receive about $1 billion. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton has been vocal about his support since August 2024, when it was first announced that Gary Works would receive $300 million from the deal. In a previous statement, Melton said he will continue to meet with both steel companies about the projected job increases to Gary, improving environmental protections and future economic development. 'I am pleased thus far on how the current agreement has been structured that allows U.S. Steel to remain an American-owned and operated corporation under this new partnership,' Melton said. 'I'm equally pleased the pledges made during this negotiation will be honored, and I'm optimistic that this was the best decision for steel workers and the communities like Gary across the country.' Since it was announced that Nippon Steel would invest $300 million in Gary Works, Northwest Indiana environmental activists have been concerned. In October, GARD and Just Transition Northwest Indiana announced they supported a letter opposing the deal from the Sierra Club to U.S. Congress members. 'Nippon Steel's revealed plans to extend the life of the most polluting parts of a steel mill currently operated by U.S. Steel leaves no doubt that the company is not acting on climate or accounting for public health,' the letter said. Carey, on Tuesday, also mentioned concerns with U.S. applying for two-year presidential air exemptions from hazardous air pollutant rules for integrated iron and steel, coke and taconite iron ore process. A previous statement from U.S. Steel said the company challenged the three rules because they were not supported by science or law and would impose significant costs while setting technically unachievable standards. 'The presidential exemptions provide an additional path to achieving reasonable, effective environmental standards, which we support as part of our commitment to environmental standards, which we support as part of our commitment to environmental excellence and to being a good neighbor in the communities where we live and work,' the statement said. 'These requests do not change our continued commitment to environmental performance and safety.'
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Trump secures unique oversight in US steel buyout
Agencies President Donald Trump will control the so-called 'golden share' that's part of the national security agreement under which he allowed Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy out iconic American steelmaker U.S. Steel, according to disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The provision gives the president the power to appoint a board member and have a say in company decisions that affect domestic steel production and competition with overseas producers. Under the provision, Trump — or someone he designates — controls that decision-making power while he is president. However, control over those powers reverts to the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department when anyone else is president, according to the filings. The White House didn't immediately respond to questions Wednesday about why Trump will directly control the decision-making and why it goes to the Treasury and Commerce departments under future presidents. Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion buyout of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel became final last week, making U.S. Steel a wholly owned subsidiary. Trump has sought to characterize the acquisition as a 'partnership' between the two companies after he at first vowed to block the deal — as former President Joe Biden did on his way out of the White House — before changing his mind after he became president. The national security agreement became effective June 13 and is between Nippon Steel, as well as its American subsidiary, and the federal government, represented by the departments of Commerce and Treasury, according to the disclosures. The complete national security agreement hasn't been published publicly, although aspects of it have been outlined in statements and securities filings made by the companies, U.S. Steel said Wednesday. The pursuit by Nippon Steel dragged on for a year and-a-half, weighed down by national security concerns, opposition by the United Steelworkers and presidential politics in the premier battleground state of Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is headquartered. The combined company will become the world's fourth-largest steelmaker in an industry dominated by Chinese companies, and bring what analysts say is Nippon Steel's top-notch technology to U.S. Steel's antiquated steelmaking processes, plus a commitment to invest $11 billion to upgrade U.S. Steel facilities. The potential that the deal could be permanently blocked forced Nippon Steel to sweeten the deal. That included upping its capital commitments in U.S. Steel facilities and adding the golden share provision, giving Trump the right to appoint an independent director and veto power on specific matters. Those matters include reductions in Nippon Steel's capital commitments in the national security agreement; changing U.S. Steel's name and headquarters; closing or idling U.S. Steel's plants; transferring production or jobs outside of the U.S..
CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Trump now wields sweeping veto power over U.S. Steel. Here's how the 'golden share' works
President Donald Trump now personally holds sweeping veto power over U.S. Steel's decisions in key areas, according to an amended corporate charter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. U.S. Steel says Trump holds what the White House calls a "golden share" in the Pittsburgh-based company. The amended charter, however, does not reference future presidents. Instead, it says the veto power passes to the Treasury and Commerce Departments as representatives of the U.S. government after Trump leaves office, according to the SEC filing. Trump approved the controversial merger of U.S. Steel with Japan's Nippon Steel on June 13, after the companies signed a national security agreement with the U.S. and accepted the "golden share" arrangement. Trump opposed the deal in the runup to the 2024 president election. Trump's direct involvement in measures to address the government's national security concerns is unprecedented, said Stephen Heifetz, a lawyer who previously served on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the agency that reviewed the U.S.-Nippon deal. But it is also, arguably, all for appearances sake, Heifetz said. The Treasury and Commerce Departments, which will exercise the "golden share" after Trump leaves office, are arms of the executive and work for the U.S. president, Hefeitz said. "We have a golden share, which I control, or president controls," Trump told reporters at the White House on June 12. "Now I'm a little concerned, whoever the president might be, but that gives you total control." The golden share gives Trump, and later the Treasury and Commerce Departments, veto power over the following business decisions at U.S. Steel, according to the SEC filing: United Steelworkers International President David McCall said Trump, through the golden share, "has assumed a startling degree of personal power over a corporation." The White House didn't immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. Trump avoided calling the deal between U.S. Steel and Nippon a merger or acquisition, describing it instead as a "partnership." But U.S. Steel is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel North America, and its shares stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 18 when the deal closed. U.S. Steel is scheduled to be formally delisted from the exchange on June 30.
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Donald Trump gets ‘golden share' in Nippon-US Steel acquisition: What it means, what are the provisions, explained
Earlier this month, Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel announced that it had won conditional approval from the Donald Trump administration for its $14.1 billion purchase of United States Steel Corporation (US Steel). Nippon Steel agreed to a national security agreement proposed by the US government and as part of this, gave the US government under Donald Trump a 'golden share' in what will become one of the largest steelmakers in the world. Bloomberg had earlier reported that the golden share does not include an equity stake in the company for the US government, but the specifics were not yet available. Now, filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) show what this golden share provision entails, how it works and also how the details are worded, the AP reported. Usually, a golden share means that the holder (the US government in this case), get veto voting power over certain changes the companies (Nippon Steel, US Steel) might want to make, as per the Bloomberg report. Further, explaining the concept, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had on social media said that this golden share would allow the US to prevent Nippon Steel from moving the company out of Pittsburgh, change the name of US Steel, or close plants in the US without their consent. According to the AP report, this provision gives the US president the following: power to appoint a board member, and have a say in company decisions that affect domestic steel production and competition with overseas producers. Further, under the provision, either Donald Trump or his designated appointee, will control decision making under the 'golden share' during his term. The report noted that the filing specify that once Donald Trump leaves office and is replaced by someone else, these powers revert to the US Treasury Department and the US Commerce Department. Responding to a query on the wording of the provision, the White House told Reuters that the share is 'not granted to Trump specifically, but to whoever the president is'. It however noted that the wording of the provision is specific to Donald Trump. It lists what decisions cannot be made 'without, ... at any time when Donald J. Trump is serving as President of the United States of America, the written consent of Donald J. Trump or President Trump's Designee' or 'at any other time, the written consent of the CMAs,' a contractual term for the Treasury and Commerce departments. Nippon Steel buyout of US Steel became final last week, making the Pittsburgh-based company, a wholly owned subsidiary. Donald Trump has sought to characterise the acquisition as a 'partnership' after he made a u-turn from blocking the deal to approving it. The national security agreement became effective June 13 and is between Nippon Steel, as well as its American subsidiary, and the federal government, represented by the departments of Commerce and Treasury, according to the disclosures. The complete national security agreement hasn't been published publicly, although aspects of it have been outlined in statements and securities filings made by the companies, US Steel said on June 25. (With inputs from AP, Bloomberg)
Euronews
2 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
US Steel buyout gives Trump a new power: What about future presidents?
President Donald Trump will control the so-called 'golden share' that's part of the national security agreement under which he allowed Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy out American steelmaker US Steel. That's according to disclosures filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The provision gives the president the power to appoint a board member and have a say in company decisions that affect domestic steel production and competition with overseas producers. Under the provision, Trump — or someone he designates — controls that decision-making power while he is president. However, control over those powers reverts to the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department when anyone else is president, according to the filings. The White House responded in a statement that the share is 'not granted to Trump specifically, but to whoever the president is". Officials were asked why Trump will directly control the decision-making and why it goes to the Treasury and Commerce departments under future presidents. Still, the wording of the provision is specific to Trump. It lists what decisions cannot be made without 'the written consent of Donald J. Trump or President Trump's Designee' at 'any time when Donald J. Trump is serving as President of the United States of America' or 'at any other time, the written consent of the CMAs', a contractual term for the Treasury and Commerce departments. Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion buyout of Pittsburgh-based US Steel became final last week, making US Steel a wholly-owned subsidiary. Trump has sought to characterise the acquisition as a "partnership" between the two companies after he at first vowed to block the deal — as former President Joe Biden did on his way out of the White House — before changing his mind after he became president. The national security agreement became effective 13 June and is between Nippon Steel, as well as its American subsidiary, and the federal government, represented by the departments of Commerce and Treasury, according to the disclosures. The complete national security agreement hasn't been published publicly, although aspects of it have been outlined in statements and securities filings made by the companies, US Steel said Wednesday. The pursuit by Nippon Steel dragged on for a year and a half, weighed down by national security concerns, opposition by the United Steelworkers, and presidential politics in the premier battleground state of Pennsylvania, where US Steel is headquartered. The combined company will become the world's fourth-largest steelmaker in an industry dominated by Chinese companies, and bring what analysts say is Nippon Steel's top-notch technology to US Steel's antiquated steelmaking processes. That's on top of a commitment to invest $11bn to upgrade US Steel facilities. The potential that the deal could be permanently blocked forced Nippon Steel to sweeten the deal. That included upping its capital commitments in US Steel facilities and adding the golden share provision, giving Trump a veto power on specific matters and the right to appoint an independent director. Those matters include reductions in Nippon Steel's capital commitments in the national security agreement; changing US Steel's name and headquarters; closing or idling US Steel's plants; transferring production or jobs outside of the US; buying competing businesses in the US; and certain decisions on trade, labour and sourcing outside the US.
