Cleveland-Cliffs CEO attacks Japan as he reiterates interest in acquiring U.S. Steel

Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Monday he had a plan to buy U.S. Steel as he launched a tirade against Japan, calling the close U.S. ally “evil” during a news conference.

“I want to buy,” Goncalves told journalists at the Butler works plant in Pennsylvania. “I have a plan, I have an all-American solution in place. The all-American solution centers on people, on workers.”

Goncalves’ comments came after CNBC reported earlier Monday that Cleveland-Cliffs is partnering with Nucor in a potential bid for U.S. Steel. Cleveland-Cliffs is angling for U.S. Steel after President Joe Biden blocked the company’s sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel earlier this month, citing national security concerns.

Talk of a potential offer drove both U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs shares higher in trading on Monday, with shares closing up about 6% each. Nucor shares ended the day up 4%.

Goncalves launched a tirade against Japan during a news conference that ran more than 90 minutes and which was ostensibly held to mark the five-year anniversary of Cleveland-Cliffs’ acquisition of AK Steel.

The Cleveland Cliffs CEO attacked Japan as “evil,” claiming that the U.S. ally had taught China how to dump steel on the U.S. market.

“Japan is evil. Japan taught China a lot of things,” Goncalves said. “Japan taught China how to dump, how to have overcapacity, how to overproduce.”

The CEO criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for expressing concern to Biden about the decision to block Nippon’s acquisition of U.S. Steel. Goncalves challenged Ishiba to bring the same concerns to the White House when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

“Japan beware,” Goncalves said. “You don’t understand who you are. You did not learn anything since 1945. You did not learn how good we are, how gracious we are, how magnanimous we are, how forgiving we are.”

U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have sued Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs, and United Steelworkers President David McCall in federal court, alleging that they coordinated actions to prevent the deal from taking place.

Goncalves has dismissed the lawsuit as a “shameless effort to scapegoat others for U.S. Steel’s and Nippon Steel’s self-inflicted disaster.”