Why we should welcome the Japanese manufacturing giant to America.
The proposed purchase of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel has done something few issues can do in Washington: forge a bipartisan consensus. In this case, members of both parties are absolutely molten about the prospects of a 123-year-old American manufacturer flying a Japanese flag.Their stated concern is that the takeover represents a national security threat, even though Japan is a closer-than-ever ally and trading partner. Sen. John Fetterman , who lives opposite U.S.
Foreign ownership isn’t foreign to steel, either. As big steel melted down a generation ago, overseas investment was welcomed — South Korea’s Pohang Iron and Steel was a partner with U.S. Steel in a plant in Pittsburg, Calif. Luxembourg’s ArcelorMittal employsin steelmaking and mining in the United States, Canada and Mexico. AK Steel, which ran the plant in Middletown, Ohio., where Vance’s grandfather worked, was owned by Armco and Japan’s Kawasaki Steel for a time, too.
Perhaps the most iconic thing about U.S. Steel? The way it was assembled: a 1901 robber-baron collusion that consolidated rival steelmakers, eliminated competition and increased prices and profits. Consider it a sort of early private equity deal, put together by J.P. Morgan, which made Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Charles Schwab even richer.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has moved on from steel to embrace growth sectors such as banking, health care, biotech and robotics. The Edgar Thomson plant, built by Carnegie in the 19th century, is still operating along the banks of the Monongahela River. As long as the plant and the jobs there are protected, as Nippon Steel has promised, who owns it doesn’t really matter — unless you’re a politician.The Washington Post accepts opinion articles on any topic.
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