Nippon Steel urged USW leadership to participate in negotiations to advance the acquisition of US Steel (X.US)

Nippon Steel's vice-chairman Takahiro Mori said on Tuesday the company remained committed to negotiations with the United States Steelworkers Union (USW) over its acquisition of US Steel (X).

Mori, the main negotiator for the acquisition, said in a letter to US Steel employees that USW president David McCall "has not seriously considered any of our proposals" and that "all we need is the leadership of the USW to come to the table, and we hope they will do so in the near future."

David McCall responded: "Nippon Steel has never made a commitment that it cannot easily revoke. Its so-called assurances are conditional, allowing Tokyo-based Japanese executives to change their business plans at any time, leaving workers and their communities vulnerable."

The deal has been opposed by prominent Democrats and Republicans ahead of the November US presidential election, including Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump.

Mori said in the letter that Nippon Steel was committed to maintaining the blast furnaces at US Steel for the long term and using steel produced at the plants represented by the union, rather than steel produced overseas.

Mori said the Japanese company would honour all of US Steel's commitments to the union, including labour, pensions and insurance, and added that his company would not interfere in US Steel's trade decisions.

The US National Security Council, which reviews the deal, allowed the companies to resubmit their approval applications, delaying a decision on the politically sensitive merger until after the November 5 presidential election. The companies plan to complete the deal by the end of December after receiving regulatory approval.

Nippon Steel said on Tuesday it would sell 2.9m shares in Pohang Iron & Steel of South Korea to "improve asset efficiency". The Japanese steelmaker said in a statement that the timing of the sale and its impact on its financial performance would be announced later. The largest steelmaker in Japan plans to sell at least $211m of assets this fiscal year to manage its debt ahead of the planned $14.9bn acquisition of US Steel.