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China commentary slams U.S. for steel suspicions
Jul. 16th, 2010
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday criticized a group of 50 U.S. lawmakers for calling for a probe into Chinese investment in the U.S. steel sector, saying protectionism was rearing its ugly head again.
The bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers pushed for an investigation into whether the Chinese investment in the U.S. steel sector should be blocked on national security grounds.
The U.S. Congressional Steel Caucus, in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said it was "deeply concerned" the recently announced joint venture between Anshan Iron and Steel Group's and the Steel Development Co also threatened American jobs.
The Chinese state-owned firm, also known as Angang, plans to invest in a $175 million rebar facility that Steel Development is building in Amory, Mississippi. Rebar is a reinforcing steel bar commonly used in concrete and masonry structures.
Xinhua said the production of rebar was hardly a secret and that the project had no access to "new steel production technologies."
"The tendency toward trade and investment protectionism is rearing its ugly head again," Xinhua said in the English-language article.
"It is common sense within the industry that nowadays, steel trading is done through futures exchange or spots markets, so the supply of rebar for certain 'national security infrastructure projects' is irrelevant to producers," Xinhua added.
Full story http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38105634/ns/business
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