United News of Bangladesh

President Donald Trump on Friday said that US Steel will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a “planned partnership” that seemed to signal that he’ll approve a bid by Japan-based Nippon Steel to make a big investment in the iconic American steelmaker, if not buy it outright. Still, Trump's statement left it vague as to whether he is approving Nippon Steel's bid after he vowed repeatedly to block the deal to prevent US Steel from being foreign-owned, AP reports. More recently, Trump suggested that Nippon Steel would invest in US Steel, not buy it, and one union official suggested Friday that the federal government will have a role in the company's management going forward. But investors seemed to take Trump's statement as a sign that he's approving some sort of merger, sharply pushing up US Steel's shares, and the companies issued approving statements. Nippon Steel said the partnership is a “game changer — for US Steel and all of its stakeholders, including the American steel industry, and the broader American manufacturing base.” Trump tariff threats on EU, Apple, send US futures and global markets skidding US Steel said it “will remain American, and we will grow bigger and stronger through a partnership with Nippon Steel that brings massive investment, new technologies and thousands of jobs over the next four years." Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion bid to buy US Steel was blocked by former President Joe Biden on his way out of office and, after Trump became president, subject to another national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. In his statement Friday, Trump said that “after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh.” What Trump called a “planned partnership” will add $14 billion to the US economy, he said, although it wasn't clear what the terms of the deal would be or who would control US Steel under the arrangement. Neither company explained Friday how the partnership would be structured. Japan’s chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa told reporters Friday that he was closely watching the development. He said Nippon Steel has made a proposal that could win support from US Steel and make a good investment for both Japan and the US. Josh Spoores, the Pennsylvania-based head of steel Americas analysis for commodity researcher CRU, said that, from what he’s seeing, “this ‘partnership’ is a green light for the acquisition.” Shares of US Steel jumped 21% on the news, and continued rising in aftermarket trading.

Japan’s Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato has hinted that the country’s substantial holdings of US Treasury could serve as leverage in ongoing tariff negotiations with the Trump administration. “It does exist as a card, but I think whether we choose to use it or not would be a separate decision,” Kato stated during a televised interview on national broadcaster TV Tokyo on Friday, AP reports. While Kato refrained from providing further details or suggesting Japan intends to sell its holdings, the remark signals a potential shift in Japan’s strategy as tensions over tariffs grow. Previously, Kato and other Japanese officials had dismissed the possibility of using Treasury holdings as a negotiation tool. Japan is currently the largest foreign holder of US government debt, owning approximately $1.13 trillion as of late February. China, which is also engaged in a trade standoff with the United States, ranks second. The $10 billion India-Pakistan trade hidden from official records Kato emphasised that various elements would be considered in negotiations with President Donald Trump, hinting that Japan’s continued investment in US bonds could be used to gain favourable terms. The Trump administration has disrupted long-standing US trade policies, including with allies such as Japan, by imposing steep tariffs on a broad range of imported goods. A new round of US tariffs — 25% on vehicles and auto parts, and a 10% baseline tariff — is expected to take effect soon, posing a threat to Japan’s slowing economy. A delegation of Japanese officials visited Washington this week for discussions aimed at averting the new tariffs.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised Saturday the friendship and trust that his country and Japan have developed while attending a memorial service on Iwo Jima to honor those who died in battle during World War II. Japan is Hegseth's second stop after the Philippines on his first Asia trip. His visit comes as Beijing has been showing increasingly assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea and following threats by President Donald Trump to impose trade tariffs on the East Asian country, a key US ally. Hegseth landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, now known as Iwoto, where Japanese and American soldiers faced off in one of the war's fiercest battles. He joined several American veterans who survived the battle and Japanese bereaved families, as well as his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other officials at Saturdsay's Reunion of Honor event. “Iwo Jima embodies our shared warrior ethos, our shared devotion to the nation, and to duty and our shared reverence for the men of valor who preceded us,” Hegseth said in front of the cenotaph built in 1985 marking their first joint memorial. “The US-Japan alliance shows ... how yesterday’s enemy has become today’s friends,” Hegseth said. “Our alliance has been and remains the cornerstone of freedom, prosperity, security and peace in the Indo-Pacific.” Recent polls show the Japanese feel more affinity toward the US than any other country. Most Americans and Japanese alive today were born after Japan surrendered in August 1945. US grants initial approval for Qatar to acquire MQ-9 armed drones in a $2 billion deal Japan, which faces growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia, has been accelerating its military buildup and increasingly working closely with the US military. On Sunday, Hegseth will hold talks with Nakatani in Tokyo to discuss further strengthening the alliance. “We must not forget that the peace and prosperity we enjoy today have been built upon the noble sacrifices of those who died in the war and the tireless efforts of the people over the past 80 years since the end of the war,” said Japan's Ishiba, who became the first serving Japanese prime minister to attend the joint Iwo Jima memorial. Ishiba renewed his determination to peace and to further elevate the Japan-US alliance. “And we must continue to endeavour to humbly face the history and keep telling the harrowing experience of the war to the world so that we never repeat the tragedy of war," Ishiba said. The 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima is best known for the photo by The Associated Press’ Joe Rosenthal showing six Marines raising the US flag over Mount Suribachi.