US President Joe Biden’s decision to block Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for US Steel cast a shadow over Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Tuesday visit to Japan for farewell meetings with the Washington’s most important ally in Asia.
The rejection, announced Friday, shook U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with its Asian allies, just as the political crisis in South Korea potentially complicates the revival of relations between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. The trilateral alliance is a key part of both countries’ efforts to counter China’s military buildup.
Investment in the United States could also be curbed, but analysts say the damage to broader U.S.-Japan relations is likely to be limited given shared security concerns over China.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday called Biden’s decision to block the sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel “confusing.”
Accompanied by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Blinken met with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Tokyo and will speak later in the day with Ishiba and other senior Japanese officials.
The numerous trips to Japan over the past four years “prove not only the importance, but also the centrality that the United States attaches to our partnership. President Biden asked me to come on this latest trip to highlight that,” Blinken told Iwaya.
“We have a partnership between our two countries that initially focused on bilateral issues, which has worked on regional issues and which is now truly global,” he added.
Before his trip, the State Department said Blinken wanted to build on the momentum of trilateral cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea.
In Seoul on Monday, Blinken reaffirmed his confidence in South Korea’s handling of its political unrest as investigators sought an extension of the arrest warrant for deposed President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Allies of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump also reassured Seoul and Tokyo of their support for continuing to improve ties and strengthen military, economic and diplomatic cooperation to counter China and North Korea, Reuters reported ahead of Trump’s re-election on November 5.
Limited tensions and damage following Nippon Steel’s decision
Nippon Steel and US Steel filed a lawsuit Monday, accusing Biden of violating the US Constitution by blocking their $14.9 billion merger through what they called a sham review of the national security. They asked the US federal court to overturn the decision.
Nicholas Szechenyi, a Japan expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Biden’s decision would make Blinken’s visit to Tokyo “awkward.”