England learned a valuable, if not painful, lesson recently. When you make a deal with the devil, the price is most often your soul.
The last blast furnaces in the British town of Scunthorpe will close. The Chinese owners of British Steel, Jinge, have canceled all future orders of the iron ore, coal, and raw materials needed to keep the plant operational.
England will no longer be able to create virgin steel. Leaving the country completely dependent on foreign suppliers.
Jingye Group, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running | Ed Conwayhttps://t.co/fIrTbsgcrs
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 4, 2025
Even as Britain faces a trade war across the Atlantic, it must now contend with another historic moment - the forced sunset of a foundation industry.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 4, 2025
Sky’s @EdConwaySky reports exclusively from one of the last blast furnaces in Britain.
Read more ➡️https://t.co/RZeN3yAeB7 pic.twitter.com/hHwBecWVwg
Specifically, they've lost the ability to produce virgin steel. Virgin steel is created by smelting iron ore to remove impurities and mixing it with other minerals in a superheated metallurgy process. The Industrial Revolution was born in England and built with British steel. They sold the last of their ability to forge virgin steel to a Chinese company, and now that legacy is gone. It's okay, though we're sure China would never prevent Jinge, who purchased the British Steel assets in 2020, from providing England with all the steel they needed if they needed to rebuild their military infrastructure. Being reliant on a communist country for an essential infrastructure product will be fine.
The United States is currently facing a similar situation and hoping to avoid a similar fate. In late 2023, Japan's Nippon Steel made an offer to acquire struggling United States Steel. The $14.3 billion offer included over a billion dollars in upgrades to US Steel's Mon Valley Works near Pittsburgh. These mills are among the last in the states to produce virgin steel. Without the influx of cash and the desperately needed upgrades, the Mon Valley works would most likely be closed. Leaving America, like England, dependent on foreign producers.
In December 2024, the Biden Administration announced that it would block the sale, citing national security concerns. This left the future of US Steel in doubt.
Donald Trump did not reverse the Biden Administration's decision when he took office in January, but he didn't let the deal die. He brought the parties together to negotiate, suggesting that Nippon invest enough money to allow US Steel to make the upgrades they needed and become a minority owner. The deal would provide Nippon with increased access to the US market while allowing US Steel to remain a US-owned company. It looked as if US Steel would be saved by the art of the deal.
Trump negotiates deal to have Japan’s Nippon Steel invest in US steel, rather than take it over.
— AF Post (@AFpost) February 8, 2025
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/FNn0IR7Bcz
BREAKING NEWS: President Trump said Japan's Nippon Steel will drop its bid to acquire U.S. Steel and instead "invest heavily" in the company without taking a majority stake. https://t.co/FYglMWLMpU
— KDKA (@KDKA) February 7, 2025
Nippon has since made a counteroffer, adding an additional six billion dollars to acquire majority ownership of the company as negotiations continued.
The sticking point is still majority ownership, and tariffs may help close the deal. In addition to increasing its access to the US market, a finalized deal with US Steel would give Nippon enough US production to avoid being tariffed, even as a minority owner.
It's great to see momentum after our D.C. meetings last week!
— Sen. Kim Ward (@SenatorKimWard) April 1, 2025
🏭 Nippon/@U_S_Steel can transform the domestic steel industry, keep HQ in Pittsburgh & protect jobs.
Local steelworkers back this deal. Thank you to @POTUS for keeping this investment alive! https://t.co/sJVA2uTbAs
The deal is not complete until it's signed, but both sides seem optimistic. If completed, the deal will alleviate national security concerns, leaving US Steel's headquarters in Pittsburgh, Nippon will get tariff-free access to the US market, and the American steel industry will be more competitive against imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. Most of all, virgin steel will remain a viable American commodity.
If we learned anything from England, we'll do it all without selling our souls.
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