(Reuters) – The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has told the White House it is unable to reach a consensus on national security risks involved in Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
The high-level government review board delivered its final evaluation of the deal late on Monday, the report said, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Nippon Steel announced a $15 billion takeover of U.S. Steel last December but both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have said they oppose the deal.
CFIUS said Monday that allowing Nippon Steel to take over U.S. Steel could result in lower domestic steel production representing “a national security risk”, according to the Washington Post.
The U.S. Treasury Department, which leads CFIUS, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nippon Steel declined comments.
The decision on what comes next for the deal now lies with Biden, who has 15 days to act, the report said.
(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Alexandra Alper in Washington; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sam Holmes)
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