"It's absolutely outrageous that they have sold themselves to a foreign nation," Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said in a video message posted on X. He shot the clip from the roof of his house, overlooking U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a steel mill that has been operating since 1875.
"Can't do that. Steel is always about security," the senator said, adding that he is committed to "doing anything" he can to block the deal.
"I'm going to fight for the steelworkers and their union way of life," he vowed.
Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio, issued a statement noting, "Today, a critical piece of America's defense industrial base was auctioned off to foreigners for cash." He pledged to oppose the deal in the months ahead.
"U.S. Steel announced the sale by celebrating the 'certain and immediate value' to be delivered to its shareholders. But rest assured that I will interrogate the long-term implications for the American people, and I will do everything in my power to protect the future of our nation's security, industry, and workers," Vance said.
Nippon Steel President Eiji Hashimoto told a news conference in Tokyo that the aim of the acquisition is to establish "a global network fit for the new era" and to regain Japan's growth potential.
On the hefty price tag, Hashimoto said, "It has sufficient economic rationality. There is no problem from a financial standpoint."
But Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, wrote that the acquisition "should never have occurred without the buy in and support" of United Steelworkers (USW), North America's largest industrial union, which represents 850,000 workers. "Haven't we learned from the offshoring debacle with steel? Workers deserve a seat at the table," he wrote on X.
The union was not involved in the sale. USW International President David McCall issued a statement saying, "Neither U.S. Steel nor Nippon reached out to our union regarding the deal, which is in itself a violation of our partnership agreement that requires U.S. Steel to notify us of a change in control or business conditions."
The USW "does not believe that Nippon understands the full breadth of the obligations of all our agreements, and we do not know whether it has the capacity to live up to our existing contract," he said. "This includes not just the day-to-day commitments of our labor agreement, but also significant obligations to fund pension and retiree insurance benefits that are the most extensive in the domestic steel industry."
Regarding the relationship with USW, Nippon Steel's Hashimoto said, "We would like to engage in dialogue with the labor union in a respectful manner."
In addition to reassuring the union, the deal will need the green light from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the interagency body that reviews foreign investment to determine its impact on national security.
Nippon Steel is the world's fourth-largest producer of steel, while U.S. Steel ranks 27th, according to the World Steel Association. With the acquisition of U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel's output would rank third globally.
But the value of the U.S. Steel brand goes beyond market share. Founded in 1901 by American business icons Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Charles Schwab, the company supplied steel for an array of landmark buildings, bridges and other structures around the U.S..
In 1989, when Japanese real estate giant Mitsubishi Estate signed a deal to take control of Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, almost exactly 50 years after the site opened, it too faced strong headwinds.
Coming months after Sony bought Columbia Pictures, there were fears that a rising Japan would "buy up America."
While Japan is no longer seen as an economic threat to the U.S. -- that role has been taken over by China -- the acquisition of a historic American firm tugs at heartstrings, especially with an election year about to begin.