Shares of United States Steel Corp. (X) surged by more than 7.5% in Thursday’s after-market hours as Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. (NPSCY) reportedly considers boosting its investment to rebuild its American rival’s facilities.

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel are in active talks about a deal that would preserve their $14 billion merger and secure billions more in investments from the Japanese steelmaker into Rust Belt facilities,

KEY TAKEAWAYS U.S. Steel shares are jumping in premarket trading Friday on a report that Nippon Steel is offering to spend as much as $7 billion to upgrade the American company’s aging Rust Belt facilities in a bid to obtain the Trump administration's approval of their $14 billion merger.