Fact-Checking Nippon’s Empty Promises

Nippon has a history of breaking its past promises to the United States, and the corporation’s latest promises are filled with big exceptions and conditional statements.

Nippon claims it will protect the interests of the United States in trade disputes and support the USW’s fight for fair trade.

FACT: Earlier this year, even as U.S. Steel had to shut down four tin lines, Nippon testified before the International Trade Commission that it wanted tariffs removed from Japanese-made tin products.

And as recently as 2017, the U.S. government imposed antidumping orders involving Nippon Steel.

Nippon claims it will invest in capital improvements and maintain support for U.S. Steel’s union workforce.

FACT: Nippon has never provided any detail about any specific investments and has merely promised “to do a study” after closing the U.S. Steel deal.

Nippon claims it can have a trusting, productive relationship with union steelworkers at other facilities in the United States.

FACT: The USW has contracts with Nippon at Standard Steel in Pennsylvania — and the relationship includes a backlog of grievances and NLRB charges.

Further, only four years ago, at another steel plant in Calvert, Alabama, where Nippon is a 50% joint venture partner, the steelmaker thwarted their workers’ organizing efforts by refusing to honor the organizing neutrality agreement and hiring anti-union lawyers to bust the union.

Nippon claims it has made iron-clad commitments not to lay off employees or shut plants.

FACT: Nippon’s promises run only through September 1, 2026, when USW’s Basic Labor Agreement with U.S. Steel expires. What’s more, Nippon has built-into every so-called commitment the right to abandon its promises, including if its executives in Japan change U.S. Steel’s business plans.

These are hollow promises, made by a company who at every turn has wanted to give itself the right to dodge its commitments.

Actions speak louder than words. Watch what Nippon does, not what it says.