From The Editor

The protracted effort by U.S. Steel to sell its assets to Japan’s Nippon Steel has been denied by President Joe Biden. The decision by the outgoing president puts an end to the year-long saga.

Or not.

Biden was given the responsibility of deciding the fate of the politically charged merger when the Committee on Foreign Investment effectively passed the buck, refusing to offer a conclusion on the sale. The CFIUS did inform the president the deal could reduce domestic capacity, threatening national security.

Biden’s decision was cheered by the usual suspects, most notably the United Steelworkers, which has fought the deal from the outset. “The USW welcomes President Biden’s decision to block the U.S. Steel-Nippon deal. We have no doubt that it’s the right move for our members and our national security," a release from the USW said.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, not surprisingly, had a different response. "We are dismayed by President Biden’s decision to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, which reflects a clear violation of due process and the law governing CFIUS. Instead of abiding by the law, the process was manipulated to advance President Biden’s political agenda. The president’s statement and order do not present any credible evidence of a national security issue, making clear that this was a political decision,” the U.S. steelmaker said in a release.

U.S. Steel added the company was “left with no choice but to take all appropriate action to protect our legal rights.”

In other words, the courts will have the ultimate say in the matter, which was probably the outcome to expect all along.