[alephnerd]

> The only change is now we say no to Japan teaching us to make better steel

Blame Cleveland-Cliffs [0] - Nippon Steel's Brazilian-owed competitor in Ohio.

> Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF.N) which made a failed $7 billion bid for U.S. Steel in August 2023, participated in at least nine calls assuring investors that President Joe Biden would scuttle the Nippon Steel merger months before he did so on Friday, according to summaries of investor calls included in a Dec. 17 letter from lawyers for Nippon Steel (5401.T) and U.S. Steel to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) and confirmed to Reuters by two participants in the calls.

> “I can’t force U.S. Steel to sell to me, but I can work my magic to make a deal that I don’t agree with not to close," he told investors on a March 13 call hosted by JP Morgan, the letter quoted Goncalves as saying.

> While Goncalves made similar comments about the deal to analysts on three earnings calls this year, his private remarks made throughout 2024 about the deal process show the extent of his effort to cast doubt on Nippon's bid for U.S. Steel. His comments sometimes preceded drops in the U.S. Steel share price, Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel told CFIUS.

[0] - https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/rival-ceo-spread-doubt...