President Joe Biden said Friday he is blocking a $14.3 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan맥스카지노�s Nippon Steel, marking a significant use of executive authority in the closing days of his administration.맥스카지노�As I have said many times, steel production 맥스카지노� and the steel workers who produce it 맥스카지노� are the backbone of our nation,맥스카지노� he said in a statement. 맥스카지노�A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains.맥스카지노�The move, which was first reported in the Washington Post and New York Times, is not a surprise but could have implications for future foreign investment in American companies. Biden has long said he opposed the deal, which was announced a year ago. President-elect Donald Trump also said he opposes the deal and that he also would block it once he takes office.The deal has been politically charged since it was announced in December of 2023, stirring bipartisan political opposition to foreign control of a once key component of U.S. industrial might which has fallen on hard times. Blocking the deal could be politically popular domestically but could scare away foreign investment in other U.S. companies. It could also starve U.S. Steel of investment it says it needs.Late last month, the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, known colloquially as CFIUS, notified Biden that it had not reached a consensus about whether or not U.S. Steel맥스카지노�s sale to Nippon would pose a national security risk, leaving the decision up to the president to determine whether or not to block the deal on national security grounds.The United Steelworkers union has strongly opposed the deal since the moment it was announced, arguing that Nippon has not given it sufficient guarantees that it would protect unionized jobs at some of the company맥스카지노�s older mills staffed by union members. But Biden맥스카지노�s opposition to the deal may not be the final say: Nippon and U.S. Steel have vowed to fight to win approval of the deal in court even if the Biden or incoming Trump administration tries to block it.U.S. Steel and Nippon argue the deal is necessary to provide needed investment in the U.S. Steel맥스카지노�s domestic steel operations. U.S. Steel has claimed it could be forced to shut down the mills represented by the USW if it doesn맥스카지노�t get the $2.7 billion in investment planned by Nippon Steel as part of its proposed $14.3 billion purchaseA political decisionThe proposed purchase was bound to be unpopular. U.S. Steel was once a symbol of American industrial might. It was the most valuable company in the world and the first to be worth $1 billion soon after its creation in 1901. It was also crucial to the US economy and the cars, appliances, bridges and skyscrapers that tangibly indicated that strength.But it has suffered through decades of decline since its post-World War II height. It is no longer even the largest U.S. steelmaker, and a relatively minor employer, with 14,000 US employees 맥스카지노� 11,000 of whom are USW members. But it is still not a company that politicians who enjoy talking about the American greatness want to see fall into foreign hands 맥스카지노� particularly in the politically significant state of Pennsylvania.Demonstrating that blocking the deal appears political in nature, Trump opposed Nippon맥스카지노�s purchase of U.S. Steel, but recently welcomed a $100 billion investment from Japan맥스카지노�s Softbank, including funds for investment in US artificial intelligence technology 맥스카지노� arguably far more important for national security. If U.S. Steel맥스카지노�s purchase by a Japanese company poses a national security threat, some foreign investors may think twice about spending resources on mergers and acquisitions or investments in American companies.Multiple officials familiar with the review expressed concern to CNN that the decision would be seen as a watershed moment for the Committee on Foreign Invesment in the United States, or CFIUS, which has authority to evaluate mergers on national security grounds.The conclusions of the Cabinet-level political appointees who comprise the Committee are informed by the work of roughly a hundred career staffers tasked with evaluating a deal on its merits without political influence. In the U.S. Steel case, the majority of agencies concluded that the deal posed no national security risk, and officials expressed concern that the president맥스카지노�s own position - to keep the company from being foreign-owned even if it meant denying it a large infusion of capital from Nippon - was misguided.맥스카지노�Bad decision,맥스카지노� one senior administration official said of Biden맥스카지노�s forthcoming move to block the deal. 맥스카지노�Doesn맥스카지노�t actually protect union jobs and may kill the company.맥스카지노�Shares in U.S. Steel were down by more than 8% in pre-market trade on Friday.