Business | Alloys and allies

What next for US Steel?

The faded industrial icon has few good options without a Nippon deal

Photograph: Getty Images

To make steel pliant enough to be shaped into parts for cars and planes, it must first be heated until it glows cherry red. That, incidentally, may have been the colour of David Burritt’s face when Joe Biden blocked the purchase of us Steel by Nippon Steel, a Japanese firm, on January 3rd. Mr Burritt, the American steelmaker’s boss, issued an incandescent statement calling the president’s decision “shameful and corrupt” and accusing him of helping China (“Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing are dancing in the streets”).

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This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Alloys and allies”

From the January 11th 2025 edition

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