US will receive ‘golden share’ in steel deal

The U.S. government is planning to participate in the planned “partnership” between U.S. Steel and its Japanese rival Nippon Steel, Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., said on CNBC on Tuesday.

McCormick said that as part of a national security agreement that the companies will sign with the Trump administration, the federal government will get a so-called golden share in the deal. As a result, the administration will have a say in who is appointed to the company’s board from the United States.

On Friday, President Donald Trump said that he was favoring a $14 billion “investment” by the Japanese giant in U.S. Steel, without disclosing any ownership details. The president had previously said he opposed Nippon Steel’s outright acquisition of the American manufacturer. U.S. Steel is headquartered in Pennsylvania, a politically important state that voted for Trump in 2024.

McCormick did not expand upon how the arrangement might work, and the companies have not disclosed any details of the investment.

Nippon had been trying to acquire U.S. Steel, which has faced financial difficulty for years, for $14 billion. But President Joe Biden blocked the deal on national security grounds, citing concerns about a U.S. industrial giant being acquired by a Japanese company.

It was a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, with Trump also saying on the campaign trail that he would not allow U.S. Steel to be owned by a foreign company.

On Sunday, Trump insisted the arrangement he said he brokered would keep the company American-owned.

“It will be controlled by the United States; otherwise I wouldn’t make the deal,” Trump said. “It’s an investment, and it’s a partial ownership, but it will be controlled by the USA.”

Representatives for U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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