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nation's course is charted. democracy in real time. this is your government at work. this is c-span. giving you your democracy unfiltered. host: our next guest is christine mcdaniels. economist in the george w. bush administration at the white house from 2005 to 2007. here to talk about a pending decision concerning u.s. steel and protests, thanks for giving us your time. guest: thank you for having me. host: for those who are maybe not following as close as you are, explain what has happened in the last few days concerning u.s. steel. guest: the last few days on january 3, president biden officially blocked the deal to

japanese steelmaker nippon steel when they made an offer to acquire u.s. steel and they were trying to work the deal out. the committee on foreign investment in the united states, you will hear a lot about that in this case, treasury make sure that these were deals that might give off a red flag that were credible and don't pose a national security risk. come to a conclusive result, and they picked it up to the president and president biden blocked it. and president biden said that there was credible evidence that

this japanese steelmaker might take action shed threatens to impair the national security of the united states, and that is where we are now. both sides have taken this to court. people said it will be held up in the courts for a while and then the next administration, the trump administration will likely play a key role in deciding how this ends up. host: why was nippon steel interested in u.s. steel? guest: mergers and acquisitions across borders happen all the time. somebody sees an opportunity and they proposed a merger or acquisition. in this case, it sounds like they saw an opportunity to invest in u.s. steel in terms of

their comparative advantage was integration into global value chains, and arguably superior firm-specific capital and technology and more advanced innovative production techniques. they wanted to bring back u.s. steel, plus u.s. steel being inside the u.s., they are protected from tariffs. remember in the reagan years when reagan started putting up all those barriers for imported automobiles, and then what happened was japanese automakers jumped over the tariffs and started making cars in the u.s. they see the u.s. getting more protectionist, so they want to invest in the united states and

protect themselves, not be harmed by those tariffs. so it has the potential to be a win-win for the japanese steelmaker that because he could keep u.s. steel going. host: could you elaborate? guest: u.s. steel has been struggling on and off for decades now. the steel industry in general in the u.s. has been asking for protection from import competition also for decades. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. eventually, global economic rallies catch up and they come back asking for more production. it's in president bush's administration, that happened.

and then a lot of anti-dumb thing continues before and after that. and then of course president trump used a national security tool for more tariffs for steel. so this industry is one that just is constantly seeking protection from foreign import competition. and whether that is right or wrong, that is just the reality of the situation. u.s. steel, for the most part, is not necessarily globally competitive. there are components that are fairly competitive globally, but overall u.s. steel prices do tend to be higher than global prices. host: christine mcdaniel for this conversation concerning the essential sale of u.s. sale to a

japanese company. if you want to ask your questions about the issues she's talking about, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 republicans. independent, (202) 748-8002. you can text us your questions or comments. pair is part of the statement from president biden concerning his co about the sale saying is a strong sticyon and operated steel industry representing an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains. that is because our infrastructure, ou industry are defense and industrial base. as a committeetion security and trade experts across the executive ranch, this acquisition replace one of america's largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for national security and critical supply chain. that is why i am taking action to block this. that being said, has there been a specific given about whether

national security concerns are? guest: we haven't seen anything publicly given yet. no publicly available details on that so-called credible national security threat. they don't really have to make it public, but maybe it is there, maybe it is not, i don't know. but so far it hasn't been publicly detailed with that critical national security threat is? and it is interesting, the committee on foreign investment in the united states is a committee of several agencies. treasury, commerce, etc. this time there was reportedly, it wasn't unanimous consent.

reportedly, treasury, state, and the pentagon all agree that there was no national security threat. so that is what it was surprising that the white house did say there was a credible national security threat when the pentagon itself said there isn't. that is all we know publicly. host: here is the response from the u.s. steel predent who almost served as ceo. president biden's action today is shamefully corrupt. gave a political payback to a that is out of touch with its members while harming our company's future, our workers international security. he insulted japan, a vital all, put erican competitiveness at risk. the chinese communist party leaders are dancing in the streets and biden did it all while refusing to even meet with us to learn the facts. our employees and communities deserve better. what do you think of that response, what is interesting about response to you?

guest: both sides are going to be making their statements now. it's look, when the steel was first announced as an idea, last year, my gut reaction studying this initially for a while was that could be a great opportunity, good for the workers, good for the company, good for the u.s. steel industry. it has that fresh injection of capital, fresh technology, new innovative production. also a really good, strong tie to cycle a strong steelmaker and a very strong allied country like japan. and notwithstanding any credible national security threats, it should be up to the company to decide what they want to do and if they think it is a win-win

based on the market conditions, then it is a win-win. it's not surprising he is saying this. there's also been some reports that there has been some extra lobbying on the case by the unions and then by another company which is another u.s. steel maker, and so it sounds like that is being cited a lot and some court cases being filed. so it will be interesting to watch how this plays out. post: that is the courtside. we have a new president coming in just a matter of weeks. what is his take on the deal? guest: president trump has said publicly that he does not like the idea of a foreign entity taking ownership of u.s. steel.

but during campaign days, people say a lot of different things, so we will have to wait and see. also president trump is someone who really thinks it is core to respect the market and not disrupt the market so he has a lot of competing interests here. so far as he says he has opposed the deal, but we will see when he gets in and a team gets in and maybe they will have a fresh take on this and all the information, not just the information that they were privy to. and who knows, i don't think this is over yet. host: what would change the situation on the ground, either a change of position by either this president or the next, but what other factors could change? guest: if there is a credible national by biden, the trump

team will have a different lens through which to view national security. what is seen as a national security threat to president biden might not be seen as a national security threat to president trump and his team. the criteria might be different for trump and his team, and we will just have to wait and see. host: in general, is there a sense if this deal were to take place have those employed by u.s. steel would be affected, when they lose jobs, would they be able to keep their jobs, any sense of what would happen to the employees? guest: that is what was because nippon steel -- this is what was so striking big pond steel committed to honoring all of the labor union terms and conditions that they had already worked out. so they weren't going to touch any of that.

they were going to keep all those employees, keep all of their salaries and benefits. they also agreed, and i personally have never seen this before, they agreed to give the u.s. government veto power over any potential plant closures in the united states. and that was interesting because that touches on u.s. government interest in keeping up industrial capacity. so that was a big thing driving the trump section 232 on steel. that was a big thing they wanted. i want to say 80, 85 percent, something like this. and trump saw that 20, the unfinished business is the vote on passage of h.r. 29 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title. the clerk: h.r. 29, a bill t