I am all for protecting U.S. industries with protectionist policies whenever doing so is justified and prudent. Eight times out of 10, I favor protectionism. However, Biden's decision to block Nippon Steel's purchase of U.S. Steel is senseless and baseless. Biden caved to pressure from union bosses to block the deal, even though the purchase would greatly benefit the steelworkers themselves and would enable U.S. Steel to better compete against China.
Biden's appeal to "national security" is absurd. We're talking about Japan, a staunch ally and a longtime enemy of China and Russia, and about a Japanese steel company that would have every motivation to sell steel to the U.S., especially since it would have a huge financial stake in American steel production. Biden's argument makes no sense. This decision has nothing to do with "national security" but with pandering to labor union bosses who fear they would lose leverage if U.S. Steel were owned by a Japanese company.
Sean Higgins of the Competitive Enterprise Institute puts it well:
“The Biden administration claims that national security concerns prompted them to halt the purchase of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, but the only thing they are protecting is the United Steelworkers union leverage over the domestic steel industry.
“Never mind that Nippon Steel wanted to buy U.S. Steel so it could better compete with China, which has long been accused of using its production capacity to manipulate international markets. Never mind that there was no plausible scenario in which Japan wouldn’t sell its steel to the states, especially if it owned U.S. facilities. Never mind that Nippon Steel had promised to honor U.S. Steel’s collective bargaining contracts.
“The union feared it would not have leverage over the Japanese company going forward and so it lobbied the administration hard to reject the purchase. The losers are everyone else who relies on a free market in steel, such as U.S. manufacturers.” (Biden blocks Nippon Steel purchase of U.S. Steel in baseless protectionist maneuver - Competitive Enterprise Institute)
This is one more thing that President Trump can fix when he takes office. I've defended Biden on many occasions, but this was a boneheaded decision that needs to be reversed.
Biden's appeal to "national security" is absurd. We're talking about Japan, a staunch ally and a longtime enemy of China and Russia, and about a Japanese steel company that would have every motivation to sell steel to the U.S., especially since it would have a huge financial stake in American steel production. Biden's argument makes no sense. This decision has nothing to do with "national security" but with pandering to labor union bosses who fear they would lose leverage if U.S. Steel were owned by a Japanese company.
Sean Higgins of the Competitive Enterprise Institute puts it well:
“The Biden administration claims that national security concerns prompted them to halt the purchase of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, but the only thing they are protecting is the United Steelworkers union leverage over the domestic steel industry.
“Never mind that Nippon Steel wanted to buy U.S. Steel so it could better compete with China, which has long been accused of using its production capacity to manipulate international markets. Never mind that there was no plausible scenario in which Japan wouldn’t sell its steel to the states, especially if it owned U.S. facilities. Never mind that Nippon Steel had promised to honor U.S. Steel’s collective bargaining contracts.
“The union feared it would not have leverage over the Japanese company going forward and so it lobbied the administration hard to reject the purchase. The losers are everyone else who relies on a free market in steel, such as U.S. manufacturers.” (Biden blocks Nippon Steel purchase of U.S. Steel in baseless protectionist maneuver - Competitive Enterprise Institute)
This is one more thing that President Trump can fix when he takes office. I've defended Biden on many occasions, but this was a boneheaded decision that needs to be reversed.
