SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
On Friday, President Biden blocked the sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese company Nippon Steel. Biden justified the decision by saying the deal jeopardized national security. The idea of a foreign company taking over an iconic industrial American brand like U.S. Steel also had outsized political implications, especially in a key swing state like Pennsylvania. Here with us to discuss Biden's move is Oliver Morrison of member station WESA, who's been covering how this decision was received near U.S. Steel's headquarters in Pittsburgh. Hey, Oliver.
OLIVER MORRISON, BYLINE: Hey, how's it going?
DETROW: Back up a little to start. Remind us what the deal was about.
MORRISON: OK, so a year ago, Nippon offered about $15 billion for the company, which is a lot more than the company was worth on the stock market at the time. But the deal quickly drew opposition, and that main opposition came from the United Steelworkers Union. A number of national politicians quickly followed their lead, and many of them - those politicians were democrats, including Biden, and he worried about the national security implications. But it also included the man who was then Biden's election opponent, Donald Trump.
DETROW: What exactly were the steelworkers so concerned about?
MORRISON: So they didn't like that they weren't included in the original negotiations, and they felt like many of the promises that Nippon was making publicly about how it would support their jobs wouldn't be legally enforceable. So, for example, Nippon promised to invest billions of dollars in U.S. Steel facilities, particularly here in southwestern Pennsylvania, and even offered to pay every existing worker a $5,000 bonus if the deal went through. But Congressman Chris Deluzio, who represents this region, opposed the deal and says Nippon only promised all the support after significant pressure.
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CHRIS DELUZIO: We shouldn't forget the initial proposal that came out of this deal had nothing to protect steelworker jobs, and western Pennsylvania had nothing to protect the headquarters' jobs in Pittsburgh, had nothing to ensure there'd be any kind of investment.
DETROW: It's worth pointing out, though, even though there was bipartisan opposition, not everybody in the region opposed the deal. What were some of the people who supported it saying?
MORRISON: So some state and local Republican politicians and some local business groups supported the deal because they thought it was the best chance to save the jobs. U.S. Steel's CEO said that the company would likely be forced to close down its local operations if the deal fell through. The company held a couple of big rallies, which included hundreds of workers that supported the deal. Although that's only a small percentage of its workforce, it's been clear that many workers don't agree with the union leadership. Kevin Prickett is a manager at one of the company's main plants near Pittsburgh, and he supported the deal.
KEVIN PRICKETT: It's just the huge influx of cash that, quite frankly, U.S. Steel needs to try to go ahead and get our facilities modernized so they can still be competitive.
MORRISON: And Don Furko - he's worked for U.S. Steel for 24 years, and he was happy Biden blocked the deal.
DON FURKO: We need jobs. The company needs workers. And it would also be a symbiotic relationship to come up with some sort of solution if U.S. Steel thinks that the legacy operations aren't viable anymore.
MORRISON: So Furko hopes that the company will work with the union to preserve the company's more-than-100-year presence in this region. This is a company that was started by Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan.
DETROW: What about other folks you talked to, like local officials or other people in the region?
MORRISON: Well, it's hard to get a precise breakdown of the local support, but most of the small-town mayors near U.S. Steel's plant supported the deal. The towns where these plants are located have already been decimated by job losses in previous decades. They suffer from high poverty and poor health, including from the pollution that comes from U.S. Steel's plants. So people like Cletus Lee, the Mayor of North Braddock, were excited about the potential resources Nippon might bring to fix up the plants and help clean up the pollution.
CLETUS LEE: This is what he's all about, the art of the deal. So this is a perfect time for him to do the things necessary to make America great again.
MORRISON: But Lee knows that that first means changing Trump's mind, since Trump also has opposed the deal. So Lee has been calling on Trump to visit this area.
DETROW: On that note, any sense what comes next?
MORRISON: Well, both Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel's leaders believe that their company's rights have been violated by Biden's decision, and they say it was political pressure that led to it and not the security reasons that Biden gave. So although the company hasn't said exactly what illegal action is ahead, they seem to think that they have a shot at salvaging the deal through the courts.
DETROW: That's Oliver Morrison from member Station WESA. Thanks so much.
MORRISON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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