Nippon Steel, U.S. Steel File Lawsuit against Biden's Order

Tokyo, Jan. 6 (Jiji Press)--Nippon Steel Corp. and United States Steel Corp. said Monday that they have jointly filed a lawsuit in the United States against outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's order to block the Japanese company's acquisition of its U.S. peer.

The unusual lawsuit challenges "unlawful political influence" and seeks to invalidate the presidential order and the review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

On Tuesday morning, Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto will hold a press conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo to explain the lawsuit.

In a statement released Monday, Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel argued that Biden "ignored the rule of law to gain favor" with the United Steelworkers, or USW, union and "support his political agenda."

Pointing to the president's "undue influence to advance his political agenda," the companies also claimed that the committee "failed to conduct a good faith, national security-focused regulatory review process."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]