Nippon Steel’s US$15 billion bid for US Steel has been referred to US President Joe Biden, a White House spokesman said, giving the president 15 days to decide on a tie-up he has previously said he opposes.
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The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign investments in the US for national security risks, referred the deal to Biden after it was unable to reach a consensus, the companies and two sources said.
That gives Biden, who has long opposed the tie-up, 15 days to block the deal. If he takes no action in that time, the merger would get an unexpected greenlight.
“We received the CFIUS evaluation and the President will review it,” White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said.
The referral to Biden paves the way for the deal to be killed before president-elect Donald Trump takes office.
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Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, has also opposed the deal, which was first announced last December.