I misread the headline and thought he was against selling steel to Japan, but he’s against selling the company “US Steel” to Japanese owners.
The history of the firm is truly crazy. JP Morgan’s original claim to fame, which produced over 2/3rds of all domestic steel at its peak and generated obscene profits off the backs of prison labor and press-ganged African American employees, while emitting enormous amounts of pollution from under-built and under-maintained furnaces across the Midwest and Atlantic Coast for over a century. The firm has been at the heart of generations of scandal, from monopolization to failed nationalization to strikes to bailouts to hostile takeovers.
Its a poster child for what unfettered capitalism does to the national infrastructure base.
Finally having the industry chopped up and sold off to foreign financial interests would be a fitting epilogue to its legacy. A real icon of American industry, from start to finish.
US Steel was also an interesting example something that arguably helped the allies win WW2. It was one of the biggest defense contractors back then and was integral to the war machine. My old house still has weird construction materials that were used instead of the metals US Steel was prioritizing for the war.
The company’s history really highlights a lot of pretty significant American moments, struggles, etc. Want to learn about America, learn about US Steel.
It’s only a free market when it benefits the white 1%. U.S. Steel has been mismanaged for literally a century. I have no doubt that the Japanese could do it better.
Japanese foreign investment has been depressingly geared towards American loot-and-scoot practices.
Sapporo Beer’s acquisition of Anchor Steam Brewing Company is a great example. They took over a local institution that had been in operation for over a century and quite profitable for decades, then ran it into the ground within a few years (with help from COVID, but still…)
See: “only free market when it benefits the white 1%”
You’re just describing capitalism, a system which everyone involved says they love and support.
Its the greatest and bestest system that’s ever been created, and anyone who says otherwise is just a stupid jealous loser.
Steel has always been a national security issue. We make tanks and ships from that stuff.
Then why isn’t it nationalized?
We have never nationalized US Industry. The only one I can think of is air traffic controllers. Thanks, Reagan.
Certain elements of rail shipping were nationalized under Conrail when the railroads were going under in the 70s. Basically they were losing money at that point and were net liabilities so the government bought them out and operated them until they were profitable, at which point they were privatized and sold off.
U.S will nationalize industries if it follows the golden rule of capitalism, socialize losses and privatize profits.
Damn sounds like the free market these neolibs will (literally) kill for is working as intended.
I know a lot of the talk is around losing the jobs, but I’m kind of surprised that the national security argument isn’t more prominent. The American steel industry was pretty important to some big wartime efforts.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Democratic president has made the restoration of American manufacturing a cornerstone of his agenda as he seeks reelection, and he has the endorsements of the AFL-CIO and several other prominent unions.
It also committed to keeping the U.S. Steel name and Pittsburgh headquarters, while noting it already has a presence in the American market and would bring in new resources to foster job growth.
The company, which is the world’s fourth largest steel producer, launched a website with supportive statements from Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary, and Pat Toomey, a Republican and former senator from Pennsylvania.
Biden has a big megaphone to weigh in on the matter, but he is not intervening in the review process or formally blocking the deal, according to a person familiar with deliberations who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.
Biden will travel on Thursday to Saginaw, Michigan, which was once home to multiple General Motors plants and where he hopes his backing from union workers can resonate with voters.
The city is in a swing county that narrowly backed Trump in 2016 and then flipped to Biden in 2020, making it a crucial contest in this year’s presidential race.
The original article contains 627 words, the summary contains 198 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
