US Steel, once the largest corporation, agrees to sell to Nippon Steel
US Steel, once the largest corporation, agrees to sell to Nippon Steel
US Steel has agreed to be bought by NIppon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, in a $14.1 billion deal.
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
I realize Japan is a close ally and all, but this shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Metallurgy and metal production expertise is a domain that the US needs to maintain full capability in, if for no other reason than national security (and there are a TON of other very good reasons).
It really is confusing. Last i knew we were spending billions to upgrade our ship building capacity, defense production infrastructure, and bringing home our manufacturing base to make our supply chains more resilient. This goes the opposite direction, so i don't know how we're letting this go down.
Maybe they plan to keep manufacturing in the US just under Nippon leadership?
Global free markets are good. That kind of market control sounds like something China would do.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“Today’s announcement also benefits the United States — ensuring a competitive, domestic steel industry, while strengthening our presence globally.”
“We also will strongly urge government regulators to carefully scrutinize this acquisition and determine if the proposed transaction serves the national security interests of the United States and benefits workers,” it said.
US Steel was so dominant, in fact, that its competitive prowess helped lead to the creation of the nation’s antitrust laws, passed in an attempt to keep the company’s strategic and financial might, and that of the Standard Oil’s, in check.
In “The Godfather Part II,” mobster Hyman Roth, explaining the growing reach of the mob, tells Michael Corleone, “Michael, we’re bigger than US Steel.” When the Yankees were winning an unprecedented five straight World Series, those baseball fans who hated the team would say that “cheering for the Yankees is like cheering for US Steel.”
First, it fell behind competitors in Japan and Germany, which were forced to rebuild from scratch after World War II and used new technologies that required far less labor and energy.
At the same time, Walt Disney and JPMorgan & Co., a Wall Street firm ironically named for US Steel’s founder, joined the index.
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