Nippon Steel spends whopping $1.3M on lobbying amid merger threat

The Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel paid its primary lobbying firm $1.3 million during a dangerous period for its proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel over the summer.

From July through September, Nippon Steel spent more on federal lobbying than the combined $1.1 million it spent during the previous seven months, a sign of how seriously the company is taking threats from Washington to derail the proposed acquisition.

Lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum came out strongly against the “fundamentally troubling” sale of U.S. Steel when Nippon Steel announced the $15 billion acquisition last December.

Nippon Steel hired Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld within days of the announcement to lobby on “issues specific to the proposed merger of Nippon Steel and U. S. Steel,” according to the registration statement.

Akin disclosed lobbying the House, Senate, Executive Office of the President, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the departments of Treasury, State and Commerce on the proposed merger, according to the third-quarter disclosure filed Monday.

The high lobbying spending coincides with a pivotal period for the merger in Washington.

President Biden was set to block the acquisition in September, and Nippon Steel’s vice chair made an 11th-hour plea to senior U.S. officials to save it, according to reporting by the Financial Times.

A week after the meeting, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) —the interagency committee that reviews major foreign investments and transactions in the U.S., including the proposed steel deal — granted Nippon Steel’s request to refile its bid, effectively punting the decision until after the election.

Akin declined to comment. Nippon Steel did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.

Whether waiting until after the election changes the outcome of the merger remains to be seen, since both Vice President Harris and former President Trump have said they oppose the deal, as does the United Steelworkers union. U.S. Steel has warned it may cut staff and move its headquarters out of Pittsburgh if the sale falls through.