WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel's proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel on Friday, citing national security concerns, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the contentious plan after a year of review.

The bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel may have a new lease on life, now that the Biden Administration pushed back the deadline it imposed for the Japanese steelmaker to abandon its plan to acquire the storied Pittsburgh company.

The CEO of Ohio-based steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs, said in a news conference Monday that he wanted to make a new bid for U.S. Steel, which accepted the buyout offer from Nippon in 2023 after it rejected an offer by Cleveland-Cliffs.