for US Steel through a sham national security review, the companies alleged in a lawsuit they said was filed on Monday.
The merger had become highly-politicized ahead of the November US presidential election, with both Democrat Biden and Republican President-elect Donald Trump pledging to kill it as they wooed voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania where US Steel is headquartered. United Steelworkers union President David McCall opposed the tie-up.
“As a result of President Biden’s undue influence to advance his political agenda, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States failed to conduct a good faith, national security-focused regulatory review process,” the companies said in a statement announcing the litigation. “We can’t back down after being treated unreasonably. We will fight back thoroughly,” Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori told Nikkei in an interview on Monday.
The companies also filed a second lawsuit against rival bidder Cleveland-Cliffs, its CEO Lourenco Goncalves, and USW union President David McCall “for their illegal and coordinated actions” aimed at preventing the deal. The companies are seeking an injunction against further “anticompetitive” behavior as well as billions of dollars in damages.