US Steel, once the world’s largest corporation, agrees to sell itself to a Japanese company | CNN Business
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US Steel has agreed to be bought by NIppon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, in a $14.1 billion deal.
  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    342·
    11 months ago

    I realize Japan is a close ally and all, but this shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Metallurgy and metal production expertise is a domain that the US needs to maintain full capability in, if for no other reason than national security (and there are a TON of other very good reasons).

    • Guido Mancipioni@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      11 months ago

      It really is confusing. Last i knew we were spending billions to upgrade our ship building capacity, defense production infrastructure, and bringing home our manufacturing base to make our supply chains more resilient. This goes the opposite direction, so i don’t know how we’re letting this go down.

      Maybe they plan to keep manufacturing in the US just under Nippon leadership?

          • grayman@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            11 months ago

            Maybe they plan to keep manufacturing in the US just under Nippon leadership?

            It was a sarcastic laugh. Zero chance Nippon gives a crap about the US. That’s not a jab at Nippon. That’s just the nature of any international corporation. There could be plenty of laws and contracts that prevent shenanigans, but ultimately all profit will go back to Japan. There is no scenario where foreign ownership of a company is better for the US than it being owned by US entities/people.

            The entirety of US leadership at every level seems dead set on selling off every asset that made this country independent and powerful. It’s a sad state of affairs that I can only laugh at out of disgust and sadness.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    41·
    11 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    “Today’s announcement also benefits the United States — ensuring a competitive, domestic steel industry, while strengthening our presence globally.”

    “We also will strongly urge government regulators to carefully scrutinize this acquisition and determine if the proposed transaction serves the national security interests of the United States and benefits workers,” it said.

    US Steel was so dominant, in fact, that its competitive prowess helped lead to the creation of the nation’s antitrust laws, passed in an attempt to keep the company’s strategic and financial might, and that of the Standard Oil’s, in check.

    In “The Godfather Part II,” mobster Hyman Roth, explaining the growing reach of the mob, tells Michael Corleone, “Michael, we’re bigger than US Steel.” When the Yankees were winning an unprecedented five straight World Series, those baseball fans who hated the team would say that “cheering for the Yankees is like cheering for US Steel.”

    First, it fell behind competitors in Japan and Germany, which were forced to rebuild from scratch after World War II and used new technologies that required far less labor and energy.

    At the same time, Walt Disney and JPMorgan & Co., a Wall Street firm ironically named for US Steel’s founder, joined the index.

    The original article contains 1,254 words, the summary contains 201 words. Saved 84%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!