“I’m flat-out opposed to it,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said in an interview. “And it’s not just this transaction I’m worried about. The precedent really matters.”
The deal also raises uncomfortable questions for the Biden administration, little more than nine months before the November election. The president, who often emphasizes the value of U.S. alliances, welcomes foreign investment. But permitting the purchase by Nippon Steel risks crossing organized labor, whose support he needs in vital swing states such as Pennsylvania.
The steel drama highlights tensions in the international economic policy that national security adviser Jake Sullivan unveiled last year. Biden’s trade and…
