Nippon Steel still aims to acquire US Steel: CEO

The starting point for talks with the US government over the proposed takeover is the current merger agreement, Imai told reporters in Tokyo.

"Nothing has been decided at this point" over when he will meet with US President Donald Trump on the matter, the CEO of the Japanese steelmaker said.

Trump told a press conference after his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Feb. 7 that Nippon Steel has agreed to invest heavily in US Steel as opposed to own it.

Later, Trump also said that Nippon Steel will not acquire a majority stake in US Steel. Imai said, "We are now at the stage of talking with the US government about what we can do to get President Trump's approval" of the acquisition.

He said US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is likely to be the contact person for the negotiations, adding that "we are about to start talks."

Imai welcomed the discussion on Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel at the Ishiba-Trump summit, saying, "It has made great progress." He expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for its efforts.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Photo by Reuters