China urges US to abide by WTO rules in aluminum imports investigation

BEIJING - A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Thursday urged US authorities to abide by World Trade Organization rules in its investigation of aluminum imports.

Sun Jiwen told a press conference China's "grave concern" over the US investigations, including anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation concerning Chinese aluminum foil.

China is assessing the US move and its influence on China's aluminum industry and international aluminum trade, Sun said.

China hopes the two sides could solve the issue through consultation and dialogue.

The US Department of Commerce began an investigation after the Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group accused Chinese aluminum foil producers of using improper subsidies and selling at unfair prices.

The Sino-US aluminum industries are highly complementary. The United States started to reduce production of low-value-added aluminum foil and focus on high-end products over 20 years ago, therefore, falling output is not a result of Chinese imports, said Wang Hejun, head of the Ministry of Commerce trade remedy and investigation bureau, in March.

Improper trade remedy measures will hurt the interests of Chinese aluminum foil exporters and dent the competitiveness of US downstream sectors, impacting on employment and consumer interests, Wang said, adding that it would lead to a lose-lose situation.

Wang urged the US authorities to enact decisions of the WTO and appellate bodies and give Chinese exporters fair counter-argument rights.