Nippon Steel continues to push for presidential support of its proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, despite concerns that such a deal could lower American steel production and create a national security threat.

Nippon Steel is now negotiating directly with the White House to save the imperiled takeover as President Joe Biden is due to make a final decision by Tuesday, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Post.

The Japanese steelmaker offered a 10-year guarantee to not reduce production capacity at U.S. Steel’s mills in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama, Texas, California and Arkansas without approval from the federal agencies that vet foreign transactions for national security — essentially giving the U.S. government veto power over any steelmaking reductions.

The proposal comes after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States left the final decision to Biden last week.

Biden has long opposed the deal, siding with United Steelworkers International President David McCall, even as many union members have come out in support of the deal.

Many experts in Washington believed Nippon could adequately address any national security concerns, but the latest salvo shows the Japanese company’s firmest commitments to date.

Biden’s review of the promises could potentially push a final decision to the Trump administration, the Post reported, citing anonymous sources.

President-elect Donald Trump also opposes the deal and has vowed to block it as president.

Locally, though, support is stronger. U.S. Steel has warned that thousands of jobs could be lost if the deal falls through, and that the company may move its headquarters out of Pittsburgh.

Last week, a group of 20 local mayors from communities impacted by U.S. Steel’s presence wrote directly to Biden, singling out McCall for “his refusal to negotiate in good faith on this transaction,” according to a copy of the letter shared with the Post-Gazette.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

U.S. markets to close Jan. 9 to honor Carter

U.S. stock markets will be closed on Jan. 9 in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, continuing a long-held Wall Street tradition in mourning the nation’s leaders.

Both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq announced this week that they plan to close their equity and options markets next Thursday in observance of a National Day of Mourning for the 39th U.S. president and global humanitarian. Carter died on Sunday at his home in Plains, Ga. He was 100 years old.

President Joe Biden declared Jan. 9 as a National Day of Mourning shortly after Carter’s death on Sunday, which is customary following the passing of an American president. Wall Street also has a tradition of paying homage to the nation’s late leaders and closed their doors on these designated days.

‘Crypto king’ extradited to U.S.

Montenegro on Tuesday extradited a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to the United States, following a decision of its justice ministry earlier this month to accept a U.S. request, while refusing a South Korean handover plea, the Balkan country’s authorities said.

Police said that officers of the National Central Bureau of Interpol in Montenegro handed over Do Kwon, the founder of the Singapore crypto firm Terraform Labs, to FBI officers at the Podgorica Airport border crossing.

The move follows a months-long legal saga in the case of Do Kwon. Both South Korea and the U.S. had requested Do Kwon’s extradition, and various courts in Montenegro over the past months had brought and overturned multiple rulings to extradite Kwon either to the U.S. or his native country.

He and another South Korean were arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 while trying to depart for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, using fake Costa Rican passports. Kwon has served a prison term in Montenegro for using a fake passport.

— From news services