Trump adds to Nippon-US steel deal woes in blow for Japan Inc

In the running: Presumptive Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaking during a campaign event recently. — TNS

DONALD Trump’s pledge to block Nippon Steel’s planned purchase of US Steel if he retakes the White House compounds political troubles for the US$15bil deal whose failure could reverberate across Japan Inc.

For Japan, the biggest foreign investor in the US, a collapse of the deal could give companies pause about acquisitions in other strategic sectors and force them to be more risk averse when sizing up deals, said former officials, lawyers, analysts and executives.