Nikkei asked four Americans, including me, whether Donald Trump might reverse both Joe Biden and his own previous declarations, and approve Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel.
CFIUS is just an advisory body to the President. It doesn't make decisions; it only recommends decisions to the President. So it can't reverse decisions either.
I imagine that if Nippon Steel knows what they're doing, they will re-negotiate the deal and re-submit it to CFIUS, perhaps with some prominent carrots to labor thrown in, then some back-room deal will be made with Trump to get his blessing, the acquisition goes through, and Trump will take credit for saving US Steel jobs (or whatever spin he wants to put on the situation).
However, Nippon Steel has been advised by Mike Pompeo, so it's quite plausible that they have no idea what they are doing.
How do you Make America Great Again by selling a company called "US Steel" to foreigners? How could anyone approve the deal without igniting MAGA ire? This should be a slam dunk, no deep thinking necessary. I'd thought that a factor in Biden nixing the deal was to avoid handing such an easy propaganda win to the MAGA team.
What was astonishing from the get-go was that the parties ignored that this issue would come to a head during a US election year. Bad situational awareness (to speak euphemistically) by the boardrooms of both Nippon Steel and US Steel.
CFIUS is just an advisory body to the President. It doesn't make decisions; it only recommends decisions to the President. So it can't reverse decisions either.
I imagine that if Nippon Steel knows what they're doing, they will re-negotiate the deal and re-submit it to CFIUS, perhaps with some prominent carrots to labor thrown in, then some back-room deal will be made with Trump to get his blessing, the acquisition goes through, and Trump will take credit for saving US Steel jobs (or whatever spin he wants to put on the situation).
However, Nippon Steel has been advised by Mike Pompeo, so it's quite plausible that they have no idea what they are doing.
How do you Make America Great Again by selling a company called "US Steel" to foreigners? How could anyone approve the deal without igniting MAGA ire? This should be a slam dunk, no deep thinking necessary. I'd thought that a factor in Biden nixing the deal was to avoid handing such an easy propaganda win to the MAGA team.
What was astonishing from the get-go was that the parties ignored that this issue would come to a head during a US election year. Bad situational awareness (to speak euphemistically) by the boardrooms of both Nippon Steel and US Steel.