Biden Should Approve the Nippon Steel Acquisition

To modify a phrase from the esteemed philosopher James Carville in 1992, “Its Allies, Stupid.” No military leader wants to go to war alone, allies bring needed capabilities, diversified industrial capacity, additional manpower, and most importantly, they open the chess board by presenting multiple dilemmas to one’s adversaries.

Many clear and cogent arguments have already been made concerning why the President should not block this merger, but it appears obvious that the politics of the election drove his initial decisions. Now that the election is over and the President has his lame duck period where he is ostensibly free of political pressure, it is time for him to do the right thing and let the deal go through for four key reasons. 

Next, the United States Navy is broken and cannot build enough high-quality warships to defend the Nation. With a stated need of over 350 ships and only 280 ships on hand, the Navy is dramatically short of what is needed. On top of that, our shipyards are producing ships that crack and are thrown out upon completion, have faulty welds, and do not have enough qualified people to work in them.  One way to fix this problem has been clearly outlined by a Biden Administration official, the Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. His answer to this problem is for the U.S. Navy to build ships in Japan and other Pacific nations. This will be enormously difficult to do if we treat Japanese companies as a threat to our national security. We need our industrial allies in Japan. 

The above two rationales for allowing the acquisition are what military professionals call “to the left of boom” or activities that occur before war and could actually help prevent war. Should war with China arrive over Taiwan, a recent U.S. Navy War College study concluded that the U.S. would be “hard-pressed” to prevail in a fight with China without Japan’s support. One can imagine the discussions inside Japan on the prospects of supporting the United States in an active war after being told by President Biden that they are a national security threat. The United States needs not just Japan, but all the Pacific nations, not just as bases, but as active fighting partners to prevail against China and perhaps more importantly, the threat of a strong coalition could effectively deter China from even attempting the invasion. We need our military fighting partners. 

Lastly, and maybe more importantly, President Biden has the opportunity to reign in executive overreach. Many from across the political spectrum have decried the use of national security powers granted to the President by the Congress for what many claim are blatant political measures. While some disagree on each of these, decisions by Presidents such as the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II, authorizing enhanced interrogation techniques post-9/11, diverting funds to build the wall along the southern border, releasing fuel from the strategic petroleum reserve to reduce fuel prices during elections, and now denying the acquisition of the steel plant in Pennsylvania, the time might be now for the President to set a precedent that the power of the Executive Branch is not unlimited and that the use of expansive powers should be limited to true national security concerns.  Should this deal be blocked on these flimsy national security concerns, the Executive Branch down the road might be stripped of powers it needs in a true emergency because the President once again, “cried wolf.”  We need strong Presidential powers for true national security concerns. 

Now that the President is free of political rationales to block this deal, he should approve it before he departs office because it will make the American economy stronger, provide an olive branch to a critical partner that we need to build ships and fight wars, and demonstrate that the powers of the executive are to be wielded with restraint. 

John G. Ferrari is a retired U.S. Army major general and a senior nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.