U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris joined U.S. President Joe Biden in declaring that United States Steel should remain domestically owned and operated, the latest headwind to the proposed sale of the company to Japan's Nippon Steel.

"U.S. Steel is an historic American company, and it is vital for our nation to maintain strong American steel companies,” Harris said during a Labor Day event with unions in Pittsburgh, home to both U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers union, which has opposed the sale. "I couldn’t agree more with President Biden — U.S. Steel should remain American-owned, and American-operated. And I will always have the backs of America’s steelworkers.”

The statement is her first on the proposed deal, and aligns with Biden, who has also pledged that U.S. Steel will remain domestically owned, though he’s stopped short of outright blocking it amid a security review. Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has also called for the transaction to be blocked.