WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday that new steps announced by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will discourage companies from pursuing corporate tax-avoidance deals known as "inversions."

"We've recently seen a few large corporations announce plans to exploit this loophole, undercutting businesses that act responsibly and leaving the middle class to pay the bill, and I'm glad that Secretary Lew is exploring additional actions to help reverse this trend," Obama said in a statement.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler)