Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Tuesday, Jan. 14.
You don't often hear supplier CEOs publicly criticize their auto industry customers, but Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. boss Lourenco Goncalves didn't mince words at a press conference Monday discussing his company's renewed interest in acquiring U.S. Steel Corp. in what would no doubt become a hostile takeover bid.
Such an acquisition — which could become possible if U.S. Steel's friendly suitor Nippon Steel Corp. fails in its attempt to win approval of its $14.1 billion deal — has been opposed by automakers because of antitrust concerns. Goncalves took issue with that opposition after fighting years of cheap foreign steel being dumped into U.S. markets.
As our John Irwin reports, Goncalves accused the auto industry of taking advantage of artificially cheap steel in the U.S. from Japanese and Chinese steelmakers. He further accused automakers of having "killed the Midwest" through globalization and the pursuit of cheap labor and materials, and he said they "continue to bleed money" despite that.
"Tariffs are coming to protect you, but you need to deserve to be protected. You need to deserve to be helped," he said in our report, saying he would be "happy and willing" to work with the auto industry to protect the security of the U.S. supply chain.
U.S. Steel shot back at Goncalves last night with this statement: "Lourenco Goncalves' press conference remarks are another attempt to shift attention away from the illegal, monopolistic conspiracies he has engaged in — all in the face of declining performance at Cleveland-Cliffs."
Meanwhile, Chrysler's electric crossover that was planned for a 2026 release has been been put on hold, according to a company email to suppliers obtained by Mopar Insiders.
As Vince Bond Jr. reports today, the note said the program, code-named C6X (CA), "has been put on hold until further notice. Therefore, any spending associated with this program should be suspended immediately."
In other news today, the Biden administration's long-expected crackdown on Chinese and Russian vehicles and related technologies from entering the U.S. is coming to fruition in the final days of the president's term. This will leave the ball in President-elect Donald Trump's court when he takes office next week. Trump wants to prevent Chinese auto imports but is open to Chinese automakers building vehicles in the U.S.
From the R&D segment, check out the entirely new instrument panel and center infotainment screen spotted in the next-generation Subaru Outback, as Larry P. Vellequette reports with several spy photos in his story.
Finally, Molly Boigon reports today about unexpected complications amid the Los Angeles wildfires: Debris removal will be made more difficult by the area's plentiful electric-vehicle batteries and other lithium ion cells, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
"It's a little different world now today, with batteries — not just car batteries, but battery packs, people with solar, those Tesla wall batteries and the like," he said during an interview with CNN that aired on Jan. 13. "The hazmat side of this is made a little bit more complicated, which is fine. We'll work through that."
That's it for now. Have a great rest of your day.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
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