President Donald Trump on Friday hears a “blockbuster agreement” between the US steel company and Japan Nippon Steel which according to him will make an iconic US steel maker in Pittsburgh and invested billions of facilities in several other states -although he previously opposed the merger and offered several details about the ins and out of the agreement.
Trump discussed the agreement during the General Meeting at the Irvin Works factory at Allegheny County on Friday night, flanked by steel workers and large banners who read “American work” and “golden age.”
Trump said Nippon would invest a total of $ 14 billion in US steel, with around $ 2.2 billion, it was placed to increase steel production in the Mon Pittsburgh valley area and other $ 7 billion to modernize steel factories, expand ore mines and build facilities in Indiana, Minnesota, Alabama and Arkansas.
President Donald Trump gave a statement at Irvin Works at the US Steel Corporation at West Mifflin, PA., May 30, 2025.
Leah Millis/Reuters
During the event, Trump also announced his plan to double the current 25% tariff on steel imports to 50%.
Trump emphasized that the US steel head office would live in Pittsburgh, bring more jobs for Americans – and even promised a $ 5,000 bonus for each US steel worker.
“There will be no layoffs and no outsourcing,” Trump promised.
Under the provisions of the agreement, US steel will maintain all the current operating explosion furnaces with a full capacity of at least 10 years, Trump said.
President Donald Trump spoke at the Works-Irvin Factory of the US Steel Valley, May 30, 2025, at West Mifflin, PA.
David Ders / AP
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he said, predicting, “they will be here longer than that.”
Under the agreement, the US steel will still be “controlled by the US,” Trump said, added, “If not, I will not make an agreement.” But he did not explicitly say how the ownership of the company will be structured.
In his remarks, Trump described himself as a skilled agreement maker, saying he refused the previous offer from Nippon before he said he realized they were how they wanted to invest in America.
President Donald Trump spoke to workers when he toured the Mon Valley Works-Irvin US Steel Corporation factory, May 30, 2025, at West Mifflin, PA.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
“I have to tell you about Nippon,” Trump said. “They keep asking me and I keep rejecting it. ‘There’s no way, impossible, impossible.’ And after about four times, I said, ‘You know, these people really want to do great things.
Trump once opposed sales
Trump first announced an agreement on his conservative social media platform last week. He said it would create at least 70,000 jobs and add $ 14 billion for the American economy. “Investment,” he wrote, will last for the next 14 months.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to block Japanese steel makers from buying US steel. As elected president, he repeated the oath.
“I really opposed the US steel which was once great and strong bought by foreign companies, in this case the Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump wrote in a post to his conservative social media platform in early December.
This is the US steel logo on display at Edgar Thomson from US Steel Works in Braddock, PA.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Biden administration in January blocks US steel sales to Nippon Steel on national security issues. The White House said that at that time it was important to maintain one of the largest steel producers in the country as an American -owned company.
The reaction varies. President of the United Steelworkers Union, who represented hundreds of thousands of workers, celebrated the move while local leaders expressed concern about the future of US steel in Southwest Pennsylvania.
A few weeks after the inauguration, Trump met with US steel CEO David Burritt in the White House. In early April, he ordered a new national security review of the offer proposed by Nippon Steel to acquire the US Steel.
Ahead of the Friday Meeting on Friday, the White House has given several details, other than what Trump mentioned at its social media post, regarding the agreement.
General view of East Nippon Works Nippon Steel Corp. The Kimitsu area was seen on January 7, 2025 in Kimitsu, Japan.
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
Peter Navarro, Trump’s trading advisor, insisted on Thursday that the US Steel “had” the company.
“Nippon Steel will have several involvement but there is no control over the company,” Navarro told reporters outside the White House, even though he did not take any more questions about the agreement.
Nippon is looking for 100% US steel ownership in talks with Trump, Nikkei Asia reported Earlier this month.
US Steel issued A short statement Last week where Trump said “was a brave leader and businessman who knew how to get the best agreement for America.”
“US steel will remain an American, and we will grow larger and stronger through partnerships with Nippon Steel that carry large -magnitude investments, new technology and thousands of jobs for the next four years,” said the company without sharing more specifically.