Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp. asked a federal court Jan. 6 to set aside the Biden administration’s “illegal and improper” decision to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of the American firm. Their lawsuit also urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to conduct a new review of the proposed $14.9 billion transaction.
Marc Selinger
Marc Selinger, Assistant Editor, is the congressional reporter for Export Compliance Daily, which he joined in December 2023. He previously wrote for a variety of defense publications, highlights of which included covering the Paris and Farnborough (UK) air shows and touring the Israeli defense industry. His first full-time journalism job involved reporting on local government, schools and police news for a community newspaper in Michigan. He is on X at @marcselinger and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-selinger-315089173/.
Almost 10 months after announcing he would oppose the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp. by Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp. (see 2403140049), President Joe Biden issued a formal order Jan. 3 blocking the deal, saying he continues to believe the 124-year-old American steelmaker should remain in domestic hands. Nippon Steel criticized the decision and hinted it will challenge it in court.
Incoming House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., said Jan. 3 that he plans to consult with the incoming Trump administration before possibly taking action on legislation to restrict U.S. outbound investment in China.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., is joining the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month for the new 119th Congress, incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Jan. 2.
Congress and the executive branch should use a mix of export controls and foreign investment restrictions to prevent China from using biotechnology to commit human rights abuses, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China said in its 2024 annual report.
Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., urged the Biden administration Dec. 19 to give China’s ByteDance more time to comply with the law that requires the company to divest TikTok by Jan. 19 or face a U.S. ban on the popular social media application.
Although Congress last week shelved a compromise to restrict outbound investment in China, two key lawmakers said they believe the legislation or something similar could become law next year.
A bipartisan group of six senators urged the Biden administration Dec. 17 to sanction foreign entities involved in illegally smuggling gold from Sudan to the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
The Biden administration said this week it has received assurances that the United Arab Emirates has ended weapons transfers to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia group, meeting a key demand of U.S. lawmakers who had threatened to oppose an arms sale to the UAE over its RSF support.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should increase its enforcement of semiconductor export controls to prevent American-made computing chips from ending up in Russian weapons and Chinese artificial intelligence systems, the Democratic majority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a new report released this week.