Union leaders are spreading misinformation about Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori said on Monday.

“There is a lot of misinformation circulating about the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel partnership and what it means for you,” Mori said in an open letter addressed to workers represented by United Steelworkers (USW) as he visits Pittsburgh to meet with key stakeholders this week.

“Said plainly, our commitments are about protecting and growing U.S. Steel and transforming its facilities so that they can be around for the next generation,” Mori added.

In the letter, Mori reiterated commitments made by Nippon Steel, which include maintaining U.S. Steel’s blast furnace operations, investing at least $2.7 billion, protecting benefits, transferring technology and keeping U.S. Steel’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, with a board of directors controlled by U.S. citizens.

Mori also said that Nippon Steel will not import steel slabs to the U.S. from overseas or reduce U.S. Steel’s domestic capabilities.

“Not only is this a commitment, but also shipping slabs halfway around the world is prohibitively expensive and does not make strategic or economic sense when we can produce high-quality slabs in Mon Valley and Gary through our partnership with U. S. Steel,” Mori wrote, referring to two U.S. Steel facilities.

The Monday letter was to address a statement issued Thursday by USW’s Mike Millsap, District 7 director and chairman of the negotiating committee, and David McCall, USW’s international president.

In the statement, the two accused Nippon Steel of spending millions of dollars to seek approval of an “ill-conceived acquisition” by circulating half-truths and even “complete fiction” in order to push the deal through.

“His goal — his only goal — is to close the transaction, not preserve our industry or our jobs,” the statement said, referring to Mori, who is Nippon Steel’s chief negotiator for the deal.

The statement accused the two companies of intending to abandon blast furnace and coke-making facilities so that they can import slabs from Japan — a move that Millsap and McCall claimed would be done to exploit the U.S. market and offload Japan’s overcapacity — which Mori denied in response.

The recent letter was the latest in the mudslinging between Nippon Steel and the union leaders.

In September, Nippon Steel released a record of communications between Mori and McCall, which included dozens of emails, with the earliest one dating back to the beginning of the year. The released correspondences show Mori attempting multiple times to meet with McCall and union leaders, and McCall ignoring most of the requests.

The purchase is pending antitrust review and a review by the powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), which makes recommendations to the president on whether to approve certain foreign transactions based on their national security implications. CFIUS previously delayed its decision until after the Nov. 5 presidential election, with the deadline coming up in December.

Both U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have publicly voiced opposition to the deal. Trump has vowed to block the deal immediately after taking office, but recently has remained quiet on the transaction.

Mori said on Nov. 7 that the company expects to close the deal by year-end and under the current administration.

Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto said the company does not rule out a lawsuit against the U.S. government if the purchase were to fall through without a legitimate reason or proper procedures being followed, according to Japanese weekly Shunkan Bunshun.