The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a motion to extend the deadline in the lawsuit filed by United States Steel (US Steel) and Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel against the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), according to a report by Reuters.
The motion filed by the DoJ requests the briefing deadline in the CFIUS lawsuit be extended for 21 days and the oral arguments be rescheduled for the week starting May 12, from April 24. “The requested extension will allow the government to complete its ongoing discussions with the parties regarding the US Steel and Nippon Steel transaction with the goal of eliminating the need for this court’s resolution of the litigation on the merits,” the DoJ statement said.
It is thought that this motion is a clear signal that US President Donald Trump may allow the deal to proceed in some way.
As SteelOrbis reported previously, the first lawsuit filed by the companies back in January this year had accused former US President Joe Biden of ignoring the rule of law to please the United Steelworkers (USW) union and to support his political agenda, and of influencing CFIUS to advance his political agenda, which resulted in a biased process depriving Nippon Steel and US Steel of their rightful opportunity for fair consideration.