Harris opposes sale of US Steel to Japanese company | News, Sports, Jobs

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden arrive for a Labor Day campaign event Monday at the IBEW Local Union No. 5 headquarters in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris used a joint campaign appearance with President Joe Biden in the key swing state of Pennsylvania on Monday to say U.S. Steel should remain domestically owned — agreeing with the White House’s months-long opposition to the company’s planned sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Her comments came at a rally in front of cheering union members celebrating Labor Day in the industrial city of Pittsburgh, where Harris said U.S. Steel “a historic American company and it is critical for our country to keep American steel companies strong.”

“US Steel should remain an American company, under American control. I will always support American steel workers” she said.

That’s similar to Biden, who repeated on Monday what he’s said since March — that he opposes the potential sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon, believing it would hurt the nation’s steelmakers. That also aligns with Republican former President Donald Trump’s views. Harris, not surprisingly, agrees with Biden on the issue, but it’s still a significant policy position for the vice president, who has offered relatively few since Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed his running mate in July.

Biden took the stage first and was greeted by chants of: “Thank you, Joe” when he and Harris arrived at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall.

The president called Harris the only “rational” election as president in November. He said that her election as vice president was “best single” decision on his presidency and told the union members that her election would be “the best decision you will ever make.”

Biden also began speaking: “Kamala Harris and I will continue to do this” as if he were still running and she was his running mate — but he had corrected himself. It underscored how much the race had changed and how Harris was carefully balancing herself as “a new way forward” while remaining deeply loyal to Biden and the policies he is pushing.

Her message is quite different — in some cases, she is forced to move faster than the Biden administration — but the overall goal of expanding government programs to support the middle class is the same.

“We know it will be a tight race until the very end” Harris told this to an audience in Pittsburgh.

The joint rally with Biden was Harris’ second of the day, following Pittsburgh’s Labor Day Parade, one of the largest in the country. It was their first joint appearance at a campaign event since the election shakeup six weeks ago.

Harris kicked off her lone Labor Day campaign with an event in Detroit, where hundreds of spectators donned bright yellow union T-shirts and raised a flag “The Union is strong” signs. The vice president said “every person in our country has benefited” from the work of trade unions.

“Everywhere I go, I tell people, ‘Listen, you may not be a union member, but you better thank a union member.'” Harris noted that union-backed collective bargaining agreements have helped guarantee five-day workweeks, sick pay and other key benefits, as well as foster safer working conditions.

“When unions are strong, America is strong” she said.

Biden, 81, has spent much of his long political career forging close ties with organized labor. The White House said it asked for Harris to be brought to Pittsburgh — rather than the usual reverse — because it wanted to highlight her history of supporting union workers.

In addition to opposing the sale of Nippon Steel, Biden has supported extending tariffs on imported Chinese steel — another area of ​​political agreement with Trump, who has praised higher foreign tariffs on many imports. Still, U.S. Steel said in a statement Monday that it still “committed to the transaction with Nippon Steel, which is the best deal for our employees, shareholders, communities and customers.”

“Partnering with Nippon Steel, a long-time investor in the United States from our close ally Japan, will strengthen the U.S. steel industry, American jobs and American supply chains, and will make the U.S. steel industry more competitive and resilient in the face of China.” the company said, noting that it employs nearly 4,000 people in Pennsylvania alone.

Nippon Steel responded to Harris’ comments by saying it believes his “The acquisition of US Steel will revitalize America’s steel rust belt, benefiting American workers, local communities, and national security in ways no other alternative will.” Harris’ campaign released a statement opposing the opinion of David McCall, president of the United Steelworkers union, who said Harris’ opposition to the sale “has made it clear once again that she will always defend steelworkers.”

Harris, 59, has sought to appeal to voters by positioning herself as a break from former President Trump’s acerbic rhetoric while also seeking to transcend the Biden era. Harris’ events have felt very different from Biden’s, which typically drew small crowds. But the vice president’s platform includes many of the same issues he championed: reducing prescription drug costs, defending the Affordable Care Act, growing the economy, helping families afford child care — and now her stance on the sale of U.S. Steel.

The vice president has promised to cut grocery costs to help combat inflation. In some cases, she has moved faster than Biden, calling for tax cuts and incentives to encourage homeownership and ending federal tip taxes on service-industry workers. But she has also offered relatively few details on major policies, instead continuing to side with Biden on the most important issues.

Harris appeared on stage with Biden after the president spoke on the opening night of last month’s Democratic National Convention, but they haven’t shared a microphone at a political event since Biden himself ran against Trump. At the time, the campaign has primarily used Harris as its lead advocate for abortion rights, which they believe could help them win in November as restrictions mount and women’s health care deteriorates after the fall of Roe v. Wade.

For more than 3 1/2 years, Harris has been one of Biden’s top validators. Now, the tables have turned as Harris looks to lean on Biden — a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania — to help win a potentially decisive state.

While the vice president appeared more forceful in speaking out about the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s war with Hamas nears its 11th month, she also backed Biden’s efforts to arm Israel and broker a hostage deal and ceasefire. Before leaving Washington for Detroit, Biden and Harris met in the White House Situation Room earlier Monday with the U.S. team negotiating the hostage deal.

“History will show what we know here: Joe Biden was one of the most transformational presidents” Harris said in Pittsburgh. “And as we know, Joe still has a lot of work to do.”

When the event ended, Biden and Harris returned to the airport together in the presidential limousine. Air Force One and Air Force Two took off within moments of each other to return to the Washington suburbs — although the president and vice president never travel on the same plane for continuity of government reasons, in case of a plane crash.

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Weissert reported from Washington.