"When deciding not to take over Biden U.S. Steel, majority staff opinion ignored"

The Washington Post reported that U.S. President Joe Biden ignored the opinions of several senior staff members in his decision to disallow Japan Steel's acquisition of U.S. steelmaker US Steel.

The newspaper said aides, including national security adviser Sullivan, had actually offered to hand over the decision to the Trump administration, buying time to propose more ways to minimize security risks following the US Steel takeover.

In the past few months of discussing US Steel, Secretary of State Blinken, Deputy Secretary of State Campbell, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Emanuel and Treasury Secretary Yellen have opposed or expressed doubts about President Biden's no-take, but Biden announced his no-take on the 3rd.

The advisers argued that preventing Japan from acquiring US Steel could put a strain on the US-Japan alliance, saying that Japan is the most important ally and country to rely on in East Asia.

It also said that Japan Steel's acquisition of US Steel would not pose a national security risk, but would stabilize US Steel, which has declined over the past decades, and be the best deal for workers.

In particular, Treasury Secretary Yellen reportedly expressed concern that rejecting the takeover offer without solid evidence of national security risks could undermine the reputation of the Foreign Investment Review Board for not taking political considerations.

But some of Biden's political staff and staff in charge of the domestic economy saw it as a rare opportunity to highlight Mr. Biden's achievements by providing U.S. job protection and a solid victory for trade unions, the newspaper said.

Advisers critical of the acquisition pointed out that Nippon Steel thought it had a precedent for not protecting workers in the past and felt it had failed to come up with meaningful supplements over the past year.