Biden plans to reject U.S. Steel Deal after getting Cfius review, Bloomberg says

President Joe Biden is said to be planning to end Nippon Steel’s (NPSCY) $14.1B bid to buy U.S. Steel (X) on national security grounds, and a Treasury Department letter from August provides the justification, Bloomberg’s Joe Deaux, Daniel Flatley, and Josh Wingrove report. The case against the takeover is spelled out in a letter to the steelmakers written by Treasury on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the secretive panel charged with scrutinizing foreign deals for American companies. Cfius relies heavily on a novel argument, namely that the Japanese company represents a threat to an industry critical not just for production of military equipment, but also for infrastructure, the authors note. If Biden blocks the sale on such grounds, it could expand the government’s definition of national security to include threats to the American economy, rather than typical concerns of spying, data collection or technology theft.