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Nippon Steel Corp.<\/a>\u2019s new chief has pledged to press on with the $14.1 billion acquisition of\u00a0United States Steel Corp.<\/a>, a deal that he says is vital to making the American company more competitive.<\/p>\n Nippon Steel isn\u2019t considering alternative options and is focused on negotiating with the United Steelworkers union to win their support for the purchase, the Tokyo-based firm\u2019s newly appointed president,\u00a0Tadashi Imai, told a press gathering.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not a company in the US that can domestically produce the high-end, electrical steel sheets for automobiles which we produce at our steel mills in Japan,\u201d Imai said, in an interview conducted last week and available for release on Monday, when he formally took over the top job.<\/p>\n That technology will be available to U.S. Steel after the acquisition. \u201cWe have over 2,000 patents in North America alone \u2014 much more than the other American steelmakers,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot we can do to strengthen U.S. Steel.\u201d<\/p>\n Imai\u2019s remarks come at a delicate time for the deal, whose prospects have been clouded by President\u00a0Joe Biden\u2019s\u00a0insistence that U.S. Steel should be \u201cdomestically owned and operated.\u201d Biden has\u00a0aligned himself<\/a>\u00a0with the union ahead of the presidential election in the fall, but risks upsetting relations with one of America\u2019s most stalwart allies in the process.<\/p>\n Biden will meet with Japan\u2019s Prime Minister\u00a0Fumio Kishida\u00a0at a summit in Washington on April 10. U.S. Steel\u2019s shareholders\u00a0will gather<\/a>\u00a0two days after that to discuss the Japanese bid.<\/p>\n Asked whether his company would consider changing the terms of the deal, perhaps by offering to take a lesser stake, Imai said it would be a decision for the American firm and isn\u2019t one for Nippon Steel to propose.<\/p>\n The previous president, Eiji Hashimoto, who launched the acquisition, is now chairman of Nippon Steel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n