Nippon Steel chief Imai Tadashi made remarks to reporters on January 6 over outgoing US President Joe Biden's order to block the Japanese company's plan to acquire United States Steel.

Biden issued the blockage order on January 3, saying Nippon Steel "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States."

S/ Imai Tadashi, Nippon Steel President / Our company has the right to be screened properly in the United States. Looking at the screening process so far and the US gov-ernment's recent decision, we have not been screened properly at all. We do not think we can leave things as is, so we are promptly considering all options for our future response. We want to take action without spending too much time.

Imai also touched on the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the US government over the matter.

S/ Imai Tadashi, Nippon Steel President / We are considering something like that as one of the important options. I think we can announce and take countermeasures without taking too much time.

Nippon Steel is expected to announce as early as January 7 concerning what steps to take.