U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have officially brought a lawsuit against the administration of President Joe Biden. 

This comes, according to NBC News, after Biden blocked the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon, a Japanese-based company.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday, Jan. 6, 2024.

It is not immediately clear how this is going to play out, with President-Elect Donald Trump about to take over the White House. In a surprising turn of events, it actually appears that Trump is supporting the Biden White House on this one.

Here is what's going on:

Last week, the White House announced that it was blocking the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon.

Biden, at the time, wrote:

So, that is why I am taking action to block this deal. It is my solemn responsibility as President to ensure that, now and long into the future, America has a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry that can continue to power our national sources of strength at home and abroad; and it is a fulfillment of that responsibility to block foreign ownership of this vital American company.

All sorts of concerns had been raised about the deal, including national security concerns.

The New York Post reported:

Democratic and Republican lawmakers slammed the deal and treated it as a symbol of the erasure of US-owned companies. The United Steelworkers union claimed it was blindsided by the merger, and argued Nippon was unlikely to honor the union’s contract and protect workers’ pensions.

On the other hand, the nearly $15 billion deal was expected to save a lot of jobs and to revitalize U.S. Steel.

The latest

Immediately after Biden blocked the deal, Nippon released a statement suggesting that a lawsuit was forthcoming.

The company said:

Instead of abiding by the law, the process was manipulated to advance President Biden's political agenda. The President's statement and Order do not present any credible evidence of a national security issue, making clear that this was a political decision.

Now, both Nippon and U.S. Steel have sued the Biden administration, arguing that the president "ignored the rule of law."

It appears that the incoming Trump administration will continue Biden's fight here.

Trump has released a statement, saying:

Why would they want to sell U.S. Steel now when Tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company. Wouldn’t it be nice to have U.S. Steel, once the greatest company in the World, lead the charge toward greatness again? It can all happen very quickly!