By Kevin Buckland and Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba asked U.S. President Joe Biden to allay concerns in the Japanese and U.S. business communities over the status of Nippon Steel's planned acquisition of U.S. Steel.
Ishiba made the request in a three-way online meeting with Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, which covered issues of economic security and cooperation in maritime security in the South China Sea, according to a spokesman from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Prime Minister Ishiba pointed out that cooperation among allies and like-minded countries is indispensable for establishing resilient supply chains, and that it is important to make efforts to ensure that companies can invest with peace of mind in order to promote economic security," he added.
The spokesman confirmed that Ishiba mentioned the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal in particular.
The Biden administration has delayed until June an order for Nippon Steel to abandon its $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel, the companies said on Saturday, after the president earlier blocked the acquisition on national security grounds on Jan. 3.