Published: January 15, 2025 |

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It’s a battle over U.S. Steel and the future of steelmaking in the region — with fiery words, the CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs said his company is once again trying to buy the company.

“The United States of America, Japan, beware, you don’t understand who you are,” said Lourenco Goncalves, the CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs.

Goncalves is promising to revitalize the Mon Valley while keeping the operation in American hands.

“Stop sucking our blood, we are Americans, we love Americans, we love the United States of America,” Goncalves said.

In a vitriolic throwdown, the CEO argued that American steelmaking should stay in American hands, citing his company’s turnaround of the Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works as a prime success story.

“Butler is the best example that American ownership of steel plants can support existing jobs, generate new jobs, and generate profit. This is the most profitable plan in our current footprint, the plant was going to shut down five years ago,” Goncalves said.

In the wake of President Joe Biden blocking Nippon Steel’s bid to buy U.S. Steel, Cleveland-Cliffs has renewed its offer to become the new owner of the once-mighty steel giant.

In prior discussions, U.S. Steel rejected the Cleveland-Cliffs bid but accepted Nippon’s $15 billion offer, an offer President Biden blocked on the grounds of national security.

While Nippon has promised more than a billion dollars in investments in the Mon Valley operation, Goncalves has promised similar investments.

“I want to buy, I have a plan, I have an all-American solution. The all-American solution centers on people, centers on workers,” Goncalves said.

U.S. Steel and Nippon have filed suit to overturn President Biden’s decision and have also separately sued Goncalves and United Steelworkers Union President David McCall, accusing them of conspiring to kill their deal.

The U.S. Steel-Nippon merger has the support of several mayors in the Mon Valley who huddled last week with Nippon Vice Chairman Takahrio Mori and vowed to take their case to President-Elect Donald Trump.

“I need the tax dollars in Clairton. My people need the jobs, it’s got a trickle-down effect, keeping the U.S. Steel and the Nippon merger alive. If not, the Mon Valley is not going to survive,” said Mayor Rich Lattanzi.

Goncalves said he believes he can sway the mayor to his side.

“They just didn’t have the opportunity to work with us, but they will, and I’m sure, 100-percent sure, that they will all support me and we’re going to make U.S. Steel as great as it was before,” Goncalves said.

With Nippon and U.S. Steel headed to court, the future of steelmaking in our region remains in flux as the war of words continues to heat up. 

Source: CBS News

Cleveland-Cliffs is a leading North America-based steel producer with focus on value-added sheet products, particularly for the automotive industry. The company is vertically integrated from the mining of iron ore, production of pellets and direct reduced iron, and processing of ferrous scrap through primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 30,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.

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