By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's Nippon Steel is seeing support for its proposal to acquire U.S. Steel in the regions of the United States where steel mills are located, Nippon Steel's President Tadashi Imai told reporters on Wednesday.
On Monday, a U.S. foreign investment committee referred the decision whether to approve or block the $15 billion deal to U.S. President Joe Biden, who has 15 days to decide.
Biden and his incoming successor, Donald Trump, have both expressed opposition to the purchase.
On Wednesday, Imai reiterated that Nippon Steel has made a number of commitments to address national security concerns of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, adding he believed there was 'progress in understanding'.
"In the communities of the various regions where the steel mills are located, there is a considerable amount of support for this acquisition," Imai said. "I hope that President Biden will understand...the value of this acquisition to the U.S. economy."
Both companies have previously said they had planned to close the deal, which has also faced opposition from a powerful the United Steelworkers labor union (USW), before the end of 2024.
On Wednesday, Nippon Steel shared a letter to Biden dated Dec. 23 and signed by two dozen U.S. municipality officials in areas where U.S. Steel mills are located, asking the U.S. president to approve the takeover deal.
"We respectfully urge you to listen to the voices of the steelworkers and everyone else whose economic security is tied to U.S. Steel - they are speaking loudly in unison that this deal must be approved," the letter said.
USW said in a separate statement that it met Nippon Steel officials twice last week. It repeated its view that the Japanese steelmaker had no interest in the long-term security of U.S. Steel plants or blast furnace operations and urged Biden to keep the company domestically owned and operated.
In order to win support for the acquisition, Nippon Steel has previously said it will not use the deal as cover to import steel and has made a series of pledges to protect jobs and invest in U.S. facilities it sees as key to its future growth.