Deals

Trump Shocks With US Steel-Nippon Approval But Details Elusive

Emissions rise from chimneys at the Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. plant in Kashima, Japan.Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

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By Joe Deaux and Akayla Gardner

May 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM UTC

Updated on

May 24, 2025 at 3:13 AM UTC

President Donald Trump on Friday announced a partnership between United States Steel Corp. and Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp., shocking markets with an agreement he said would keep the once-iconic American firm in the US but otherwise providing no specifics.

He stopped short of explicitly endorsing Nippon Steel’s earlier proposed $14.1 billion takeover of US Steel, but shares of the company surged as much as 26% in late Friday trading — signaling optimism over the deal’s prospects.