Photo/Illutration U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with reporters in Tokyo on Jan. 7 after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. (Takeshi Iwashita)

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya expressed “deep disappointment” to a top U.S. official over President Joe Biden’s decision to stop Nippon Steel Corp. from acquiring U.S. Steel.

After meeting in Tokyo on Jan. 7 with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Iwaya met with reporters and said he told him it was “deeply disappointing that the decision had been made to prohibit the acquisition due to national security concerns.”

Iwaya said in the meeting that the Japanese business community had raised strong concerns over the future of investments by Japanese and American companies in each other’s nation.

Iwaya asked Blinken to make efforts to eliminate such concerns.

Government officials have voiced strong criticism over stopping the acquisition due to national security concerns, with one official asking why Japan, a strong U.S. ally, had to be placed on the same footing as China.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba joined the chorus of criticism, saying on Jan. 6 that there could be no future discussions without a clear explanation of why such national security concerns arose.

A high-ranking government official said if the latest decision became a precedent it could have a negative effect on investment in the United States by Japanese companies.

But with Donald Trump set to become U.S. president on Jan. 20, government officials also realized there was little they could do since Trump has also expressed opposition to Nippon Steel's proposed $14 billion (2.214 trillion yen) acquisition.

One government source said, “The future is dark and to be honest there are no avenues open to us.”

Officials wanted a decision before Trump took office because of concerns he would want to make a deal in exchange for approving the acquisition if Japan asked him to approve the move.

But even though Biden has taken steps to strengthen the bilateral relationship, he still said “no” to the Nippon Steel deal on Jan. 3. 

Blinken told Iwaya in their meeting that he was proud of how strong the bilateral alliance had become, but he will step down leaving behind a major issue between the two nations.

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