TOKYO, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Nippon Steel CEO Eiji Hashimoto said Tuesday U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to block its acquisition of United States Steel was politically motivated, while stressing the company has no intention to give up on the takeover deal.
Hashimoto told a press conference that the Japanese steel giant would continue to fight for a successful buyout of U.S. Steel as it has filed lawsuits against the U.S. government as well as rival steel company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., its CEO and the president of the United Steelworkers labor union.
"We firmly believe that the various facts that will come to light through the litigation will demonstrate that this decision clearly violated the constitution and laws," Hashimoto said.
"A review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) was not properly conducted due to President Biden's illegal intervention," he added. "We can never accept this."
The remarks came a day after Nippon Steel said it filed a lawsuit arguing that Biden "ignored the rule of law to gain favor with" the United Steelworkers union, which is a key supporter of his Democratic Party that has opposed the takeover by the Japanese company.
The two steelmakers were asking the court to nullify Biden's order issued Friday blocking the acquisition, and to instruct CFIUS to conduct a new review of the deal. Biden's order demands the two companies abandon the transaction "no later than 30 days after the date of this order, unless such date is extended" by CFIUS.
The buyout project is "not only the most important issue for our management strategy but also extremely beneficial to Japan and the U.S.," Hashimoto said. "We are not going to give up. There is no reason or need to give up. That is the agreed stance of Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel."
The Japanese company also sued the rival Cleveland-Cliffs, its CEO Lourenco Goncalves and United Steelworkers union leader David McCall in a separate suit, alleging that they colluded to block the acquisition of U.S. Steel by any party other than Cleveland-Cliffs.
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel said they were committed to closing the transaction despite "racketeering and monopolistic conspiracies" involving Cleveland-Cliffs and McCall.
"We remain confident that the transaction is the best path forward to secure the future of U.S. Steel, and we will vigorously defend our rights to achieve this objective," the two steelmakers said in a statement.
Biden said last Friday that he has decided to block the 14.1 billion U.S. dollars sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, citing risks to national security, while urging the two firms to "fully and permanently" abandon their plan. ■