A government panel failed to reach consensus on national security risks of a proposal for Nippon Steel to purchase U.S. Steel, leaving the decision to the president.

President Joe Biden bowed to growing protectionist pressures in the United States and formally blocked a Japanese company’s proposed purchase of U.S. Steel, winning praise from the president’s labor allies and scorn from proponents of an open U.

Two weeks after the US election, hundreds of allies gathered at the White House to soothe Joe Biden in defeat. Tracking the closed-door bash for clues was a group rarely interested in the routine preening of Washington: arbitrage traders.

President Biden went against top national-security aides when deciding to tank a Japanese takeover of U.S. Steel and instead align with domestic advisers, bolstering his pro-union legacy.