WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, and Donnie Blatt, United Steelworkers District 1 Director, to raise the alarm about the potential sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel.
Brown has warned against the sale since its announcement and is pushing the president to stop the proposed deal, warning that the sale will make it much more difficult for the U.S. to bring trade cases in support of U.S. steelworkers and take action against bad actors. Brown also warned that Nippon has not given workers a seat at the table - a seat that the United Steelworkers' collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel guarantees for its workers. For any sale to have a chance of success, workers must be treated as partners, and that has not been the case with this deal.
During the event, Brown toured the Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland Works steel mill, met with workers, and discussed how to further support Ohio steelworkers.
'The president needs to block this deal. The potential sale of a major American steel company to Nippon Steel could jeopardize U.S. trade enforcement - enforcement that's crucial to leveling the playing field for all Ohio steelworkers,' said Brown. 'Ever since this deal was announced, Nippon Steel has made it clear they don't value workers or see them as a partner. We need to keep American steel production in the hands of companies that value their greatest asset: American workers.'
'Nippon's proposed deal would undermine the rights of the USW and is a threat to the continued operation of integrated steel mills that sustain our national security. We greatly appreciate Senator Brown's recognition that Nippon's proposed acquisition is bad for the United States, bad for workers and must be blocked,' said Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
'The USW has been a long-time partner with Senator Brown, advocating for the protection of our domestic steel and supply chain industries. We will never stop fighting for our members' rights, that have been negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel. This includes our rights to transparency of the Company's financial and investment obligations,' said Donnie Blatt, Director of the United Steelworkers District 1.
Brown has long championed the Ohio steel industry and worked to strengthen U.S. trade enforcement. This week, Brown secured a major new investment in steel production at Cleveland-Cliffs' Middletown Works steel mill.
Brown has advocated to the Commerce Department and the ITC on behalf of Ohio steel companies and their workers. During a Senate Finance Committee Hearing on manufacturing earlier this month, Brown stood up for workers at the Cleveland-Cliffs facility in Weirton, West Virginia, which is set to idle in April due to trade enforcement failures, and called for trade policy that builds out domestic supply chains and boosts American manufacturing against foreign competition. He has urged the Biden Administration to close one of U.S. trade law's biggest loopholes, known as the 'de minimis loophole,' and has called on the Biden Administration to increase tariffs on Chinese solar imports threatening American solar manufacturing jobs, including in Ohio at companies like First Solar in Toledo. Brown has introduced numerous bipartisan bills to strengthen U.S. trade enforcement, including the Stop Mexico's Steel Surge Act to reinstate 232 tariffs on Mexico steel imports, and the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act to strengthen U.S. trade remedy laws and ensure they remain effective tools to fight back against unfair trade practices and protect American workers. Brown's original Leveling the Playing Field Act led to key wins for Ohio companies.
Brown also successfully pushed the Environmental Protection Agency to overhaul its proposed rule related to emissions from integrated iron and steel manufacturing facilities. Brown pushed the EPA and President Biden to reverse course and fix the previous proposed rule that would have devastated Ohio's steel industry and cost American jobs.
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CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. 
