The US president is expected to announce a decision to ban sales of steel made in Pittsburgh starting Friday.
US President Joe Biden has decided to block the takeover of US Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel, US media have reported.
Biden is expected to announce his decision to block the $14.9bn sale on national security grounds as early as Friday, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Biden's opinion comes after The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month failed to reach a consensus on national security threats.and weeks before handing over the reins of the White House to US President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr Biden was expected to block the sale of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker to Japan's largest steelmaker after opposing the proposal during his re-election campaign.
Trump, who will take office on January 20, has also criticized the deal, calling the trade a “bad thing”.
The sale appears to be a key issue in the Pennsylvania election, which went from Trump to Biden in 2020 and back to Trump in November.
The United Steelworkers Labor Union (USW) strongly pushed for the sale, describing it as “an act of corporate greed, selling out American workers and jeopardizing the long-term future of the domestic steel industry and our national security”.
Under the proposed deal, which was heavily supported by US Steel's shareholders, the combined company would have been one of the world's largest steel producers.
US Steel would have become part of Nippon Steel but kept its name and headquarters in Pittsburgh.
Biden's decision could strain relations with Japan, one of the US's closest allies in Asia and a key ally in Washington's efforts to counter China.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in November wrote to Biden asking him to approve the deal to avoid damaging relations between the two sides, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.