Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Monday he had a plan to buy US Steel while launching a tirade against Japan, calling the close US ally “evil” during a news conference.
“I want to buy,” Goncalves told reporters at the Butler plant in Pennsylvania. “I have a plan, I have an all-American solution. “The all-American solution is people-centered, worker-centered.”
Goncalves’ comments came after CNBC reported Monday that Cleveland-Cliffs is partnering with Nucor in a potential bid for US Steel. Cleveland-Cliffs is pursuing US Steel after President Joe Biden blocked the company’s sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel earlier this month, citing national security concerns.
Talk of a possible bid drove shares of US Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs higher in trading on Monday, with the shares closing up about 6% each. Nucor shares ended the day up 4%.
Gonçalves went on a tirade against Japan during a press conference that lasted more than 90 minutes and was apparently held to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Cleveland-Cliffs’ acquisition of AK Steel.
The CEO of Cleveland Cliffs attacked Japan as “evil,” claiming the U.S. ally had taught China how to sell steel in the U.S. market.
“Japan is evil. “Japan taught China many things,” Gonçalves said. “Japan taught China how to dump, how to have excess capacity, how to overproduce.”
The CEO criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for expressing concerns to Biden over the decision to block Nippon’s acquisition of US Steel. Gonçalves challenged Ishiba to bring the same concerns to the White House when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
“Japan be careful,” Gonçalves said. “You don’t understand who you are. You haven’t learned anything since 1945. You haven’t learned how good we are, how kind we are, how magnanimous we are, how forgiving we are.”
US Steel and Nippon Steel have sued Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs and United Steelworkers President David McCall in federal court, alleging they coordinated actions to prevent the deal from happening.
Goncalves has dismissed the lawsuit as a “blatant effort to scapegoat others for US Steel and Nippon Steel’s self-inflicted disaster.”
