David Shepardson and Yuka Obayashi
WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday called on the White House to scrutinize the relationship between Nippon Steel and the Chinese steel industry, citing national security concerns amid bipartisan opposition in Congress to the Japanese company’s $14.9 billion deal. on the acquisition of US Steel Corp.
“As you review this transaction, I urge you to thoroughly investigate the allegations made in this report and examine Nippon’s ties to the Chinese government and the danger this merger poses to American national and economic security,” Sherrod Brown said in a letter to Biden citing on the April report of the consulting company Horizon Advisory.
Nippon Steel said in a statement that Horizon’s report was “full of inaccuracies and distortions” and that its operations in China were “very limited” and represented less than 5% of its global production capacity.
The White House did not immediately comment on the situation. Horizon Advisory did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Horizon report said Nippon has a long history of supporting the establishment of China’s steel industry and that it operates, in whole or in part, nine facilities in China and has active joint ventures with a number of Chinese state-backed steel companies.
“Nippon’s connection to the Chinese steel ecosystem and industrial policy agenda has troubling implications for the connection to China’s military strategy and pursuit of global economic power,” said Brown, an Ohio Democrat who is running for re-election in the Nov. 5 election. elections.
Nippon Steel said that the businesses in which it invests in China have no control over its operations or business decisions outside China, and that its Chinese partners do not have any access to information about Nippon Steel’s activities, including its research. , development and engineering, outside of China. China.
The White House believes steel is critical to national security, and Biden said last month that U.S. Steel should remain nationally owned. His opponent in the Nov. 5 presidential election, former President Donald Trump, has vowed to block the deal if he wins.