Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) expressed his disapproval regarding the $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel Corp. to a foreign company.
U.S. Steel revealed on Monday it would be acquired by Nippon Steel, a Japanese company. Fetterman blasted the deal as “absolutely outrageous” in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It’s absolutely outrageous that they have sold themselves to a foreign nation and a company,” Fetterman said of U.S. Steel. “Steel is always about security as well, too. I am committed to doing anything I can do, from using my platform or my position, in order to block this.”
The acquisition of @U_S_Steel by a foreign company is wrong for workers and wrong for Pennsylvania. I’m gonna do everything I can to block it. pic.twitter.com/9EqohwRhRJ
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) December 18, 2023
Fetterman continued to promise to “fight for the steelworkers and their union way of life” in Pennsylvania.
“We cannot ever allow them to be screwed over or left behind,” Fetterman continued.
Fetterman joins fellow Democratic lawmakers such as Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) in voicing their disapproval regarding the sale, labeling it as a “bad deal for Pennsylvania and for Pennsylvania workers.”
“I’m concerned about what this means for the Steelworkers and the good union jobs that have supported Pennsylvania families for generations, for the long-term investment in the Commonwealth, and for American industrial leadership,” Casey wrote.
The 122-year-old company “supported an estimated 11,417 jobs” in the state, out of this number, 3,703 were directly related and 7,714 were indirectly related, according to an October press release from U.S. Steel.
Nippon Steel will pay $55 a share in cash for U.S. Steel.
IJR reached out to John Fetterman for a statement but did not receive a response by the time of publication.