Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves actively undermined Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel, expressing skepticism about the deal’s viability to investors. Despite his company’s $7 billion bid being rejected in August, Goncalves participated in multiple investor calls where he predicted that President Biden would block the Nippon Steel merger due to national security concerns. His comments, shared before Biden’s public opposition on December 15, 2024, indicated his belief that Biden would act against the deal, stating, “It’s not closing, and Biden hasn’t spoken yet. He will.”
Nippon Steel’s proposal, which was significantly higher than Cleveland-Cliffs’ offer, faced challenges not only from Goncalves’ assertions but also from political pressure in Pennsylvania, where both Biden and Trump emphatically supported keeping U.S. Steel American-owned. U.S. Steel expressed concerns about potential antitrust issues linked to a Cleveland-Cliffs merger, which could monopolize U.S. iron ore production. Both sides claimed undue influence by the White House during the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) review. While Goncalves maintained that CFIUS was merely a facade for presidential intervention, U.S. Steel vowed to continue its fight for the Nippon deal amid rising political tensions.
