U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel announced Thursday that they have finalized their long-awaited partnership.
Under the announced agreement, U.S. Steel will retain its name and headquarters in Pittsburgh. The steel will continue to “mined, melted and made” in the United States, the companies said. The partnership is expected to create more than 100,000 jobs throughout the U.S., and will feature “unprecedented massive investments in steelmaking in the United States,” the companies said in their announcement.
A deal between Nippon and U.S. Steel was first proposed in late 2023. Then-President Joe Biden rejected the deal on national security grounds near the end of his time in office, but President Trump ordered a new review of the deal and suggested Nippon could agree to “invest heavily” in U.S. Steel’s facilities rather than fully acquiring the company.
On Friday, Mr. Trump cleared the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel. The companies say they have “now completed the transaction as contemplated by their merger agreement.”
The companies have also entered into a National Security Agreement with the U.S. government.
Under that agreement, Nippon Steel has agreed to imake about $11 billion in new investments in U.S. Steel by 2028, including an initial investment in a greenfield project that will be completed after 2028, they said. The agreement also requires that the majority of members of U.S. Steel’s board of directors and key management personnel, including its CEO, be U.S. citizens, and says that U.S. Steel will remain a U.S.-incorporated entity.
Takashi Mori, Nippon Steel’s representative director and vice chairman, will serve as chairman of the board of U.S. Steel, according to the news release.
The agreement also requires that U.S. Steel maintain capacity to produce and supply steel from U.S. production locations to meet market demand in the country, and says that Nippon Steel will not “prevent, prohibit, or otherwise interfere with U.S. Steel’s ability to pursue trade action under U.S. law.”
The company will also issue a “golden share” to the U.S. government, which will give the president the power to approve or veto a number of major corporate decisions, and gives the U.S. government the right to appoint one independent director.
The deal comes as Mr. Trump recently doubled tariffs on foreign steel imports.
“This is a momentous day for our country, our communities, and the American steel industry,” said U.S. Steel CEO Dave Burritt in a news release announcing the partnership details. “Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, American workers secured the best possible deal. U. S. Steel will remain rooted in the United States and continue to call Pittsburgh home. Through our partnership with Nippon Steel, we are poised to grow better and bigger, with transformative investment, cutting-edge technology, and the creation of good-paying jobs across the United States.”
Nippon Steel has manufacturing bases in more than a dozen countries, including Japan, India and Mexico.
U.S. Steel has been headquartered in Pittsburgh since 1901, and has operations elsewhere in the U.S. and in Central Europe.
