Harris opposes sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese firm at joint Pennsylvania event with Biden – San Diego Union-Tribune
By COLLEEN LONG, ERIN B. LOGAN and WILL WEISSERT
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris used a joint campaign appearance with President Joe Biden in the key swing state of Pennsylvania Monday to say that U.S. Steel should remain domestically owned — aligning with the White House’s monthslong opposition to the company’s proposed sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel.
Her comments came at a rally for union members celebrating Labor Day in the industrial city of Pittsburgh, where Harris said U.S. Steel was “a historic American company and it is vital to our country to maintain strong American steel companies.”
“US Steel must remain an American-owned and operated company, and I will always support American steelmakers,” she said.
That echoes Biden, who on Monday repeated what he has said since March: that he opposes the potential sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon, saying it would hurt the country’s steelmakers. It also echoes the views of former Republican President Donald Trump. It’s hardly surprising that Harris would agree with Biden on this issue, but it’s still a major policy stance for the vice president, who has offered relatively few since Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed his running mate in July.
Biden took the stage first and was greeted with chants of “Thank you, Joe” as he and Harris appeared in a hall of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
The president said Harris was the only “rational” choice for president in November. He said choosing her as vice president was the “best” decision of his presidency and told union members that electing her would be “the best decision you could make.”
Biden also began saying, “Kamala Harris and I are going to continue this,” as if he were still a candidate and she was his running mate — but he corrected himself. It shows how much the race has changed, and how Harris has been careful to balance presenting herself as “a new way forward” while remaining intensely loyal to Biden and the policies he has promoted.
Her rhetoric is very different — and in some cases, she is being pushed to move faster than the Biden administration — but the overall goal of expanding government programs to support the middle class is the same.
“We know it’s going to be a close race right down to the end,” Harris told the Pittsburgh crowd.
The joint rally with Biden was Harris’ second of the day and followed Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade, one of the nation’s largest. It was their first joint appearance at a campaign event since the election shakeup six weeks ago.
Harris opened her solo Labor Day campaign with an event in Detroit, where hundreds of people in the audience wore bright yellow T-shirts and held “Union Strong” signs. The vice president said that “every person in our country has benefited” from the work of unions.
“Everywhere I go, I tell people, ‘Look, you may not be a union member, you better thank a union member,’” Harris said, noting that collective bargaining by unions has helped secure the five-day workweek, sick pay and other key benefits and cement safer working conditions.
“When unions are strong, America is strong,” she said.
Biden, 81, has spent much of his long political career building close ties with unions. The White House said he asked to introduce Harris in Pittsburgh — instead of the other way around — because he wanted to highlight his support for union workers.
In addition to opposing the sale of Nippon Steel, Biden has endorsed increasing tariffs on imported Chinese steel — another area of policy agreement with Trump, who has welcomed increasing foreign tariffs on many imports. Still, in a statement Monday, U.S. Steel said it remains “committed to the transaction with Nippon Steel, which is the best deal for our employees, shareholders, communities and customers.”
“Partnering with Nippon Steel, a long-time investor in the United States from our close ally Japan, will strengthen the American steel industry, American jobs and American supply chains, and improve the competitiveness and resilience of the American steel industry in the face of China,” the company said, noting that it employs nearly 4,000 people in Pennsylvania alone.
Nippon Steel responded to Harris’ comments by saying it believed its “acquisition of U.S. Steel would revitalize the Rust Belt of American steel, benefiting American workers, local communities and national security in ways no other alternative could.” Harris’ campaign issued a statement contradicting that sentiment from David McCall, president of the United Steelworkers union, who said Harris’ opposition to the sale “once again made clear that she will always stand up for steelworkers.”
Harris, 59, has sought to appeal to voters by positioning herself as a departure from former President Trump’s harsh rhetoric while looking to move beyond the Biden era. Harris’ events are markedly different from Biden’s, which were typically sparsely attended. But the vice president’s agenda includes the same issues he has championed: capping prescription drug costs, defending the Affordable Care Act, growing the economy, helping families afford child care — and now his stance on the sale of U.S. Steel.
The vice president has promised to work to lower grocery prices to help fight inflation. She has moved more quickly than Biden in some instances, calling for using tax cuts and incentives to encourage homeownership and ending federal taxes on tips for service-sector workers. But she has also offered relatively few specifics on major policies, continuing to side with Biden on the most important issues.
Harris appeared on stage with Biden after the president’s speech on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention last month, but they hadn’t shared a microphone at a political event since Biden himself ran against Trump. At the time, the campaign was using Harris primarily as a lead spokesperson for abortion rights, an issue they say can help them win in November as restrictions mount and health care worsens for women after the failure of Roe v. Wade.
For more than three and a half years, Harris has been a key Biden supporter. Now, that’s reversed, as Harris looks to lean on Biden — a Scranton, Pennsylvania, native — to help her win this potentially decisive state.
While the vice president has been tougher on the plight of civilians in Gaza as Israel’s war with Hamas approaches the 11-month mark, she has also backed Biden’s efforts to arm Israel and secure a hostage deal and a cease-fire. Before leaving Washington for Detroit, Biden and Harris met Monday in the White House Situation Room with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team.
“History will tell us what we know here: Joe Biden has been one of the most transformative presidents,” Harris said in Pittsburgh. “And as we know, Joe still has a lot of work to do.”
After the event, Biden and Harris returned to the airport together in the presidential limousine. Air Force One and Air Force Two then took off moments apart to return to the Washington suburbs — though the president and vice president never travel on the same plane for continuity of government reasons, just in case an air emergency occurs.
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Weissert reported from Washington.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
