Trump signals that he may let US Steel make a deal with Nippon after Biden blocked it

The Trump administration filed a motion to extend two deadlines in U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel’s lawsuit against a U.S. national security panel to give the government more time to wrap up merger talks with the firms, a filing showed on Monday.

The filing is the clearest indication that President Donald Trump may allow the deal, scuttled by his predecessor Joe Biden, to proceed in some form.

In January, the two companies filed a lawsuit against the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which scrutinizes foreign investments for national security risks, after it recommended that a merger between them be rejected on national security grounds.

The motion last week from the Department of Justice calls for extending briefing deadlines in the CFIUS lawsuit for 21 days, and rescheduling the oral arguments for the week of May 12 from April 24.

“The requested extension will allow the government to complete its ongoing discussions with the parties regarding the U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel transaction with the goal of eliminating the need for this Court’s resolution of the litigation on the merits,” the DOJ said in its filing.

Trump in February said that he would not mind if Nippon Steel took a minority stake in U.S. Steel.