U.S. President Donald Trump is said to have exercised US Steel's golden share authority to reverse the decision on operating US Steel's plants in the United States. In Jun., 99.99% equity of US Steel was sold to Nippon Steel for $14.1 billion (about 20 trillion won).
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others on the 19th (local time), President Trump exercised the golden share authority secured during the US Steel sale in Jun. to overturn the company's decision to halt operations at the Granite City steel mill in Nov.
The golden share secured by President Trump is one share, but it can veto major management matters such as headquarters transfer or investment plans. After President Trump leaves office, the golden share will be transferred to the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department, not the president.
Analysts say the president's exercise of the golden share was a decision conscious of the backlash from American steelworkers over plant closures. During the presidential campaign, Trump opposed the sale of US Steel and received support from the United Steelworkers.
Nippon Steel, upon acquiring US Steel, agreed to keep the Granite City steel mill through 2027. The Granite City mill halted steel production in 2023 and is operating only the process of rolling steel sheets produced in other regions.
Nippon Steel planned to increase such operations at steel mills in Pennsylvania and Indiana to optimize operations. Under the plan, it also said that even if the Granite City mill stopped production, the wages of about 800 employees would not be cut, nor would they be laid off.
However, the plan was thwarted by the president's golden share. The WSJ analyzed that the exercise of golden share authority shows the Trump administration's expanding influence over the private sector, and explained that the acquisition of a 10% equity stake in Intel and the arrangement for Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of their China sales to the government in exchange for exporting semiconductors to China are in the same vein.