After all, US Steel was once the world's largest company, and it was the first company to be valued at over a billion dollars. US Steel was thus a symbol of America's economic dominance. So it was not surprising that Nippon Steel's purchase of US Steel was blocked by both the Biden and Trump administrations. This was disappointing — especially since Nippon Steel planned to invest billions in modernizing US Steel's facilities.

Last week, President Trump praised the deal with some added conditions. One major condition is that the US government will receive a "golden share" in US Steel. This will enable the government to overrule any business decision made by the company's management if the government determines the business decision threatens "national security." This power could be used to prevent US Steel from exporting steel to certain countries, as well as to require US Steel to prioritize production for the military and other government agencies. It could also be used to interfere with labor-management relations based on the idea that a labor dispute can disrupt production and thus harm national security. In fact, there is almost no decision US Steel's management could make that cannot be labeled as involving "national security."