Lawmakers from US steel-producing states on Thursday cheered a decision by Chinese steel company Anshan Iron & Steel Group (鞍山鋼鐵) to back off plans to invest in a US steel plant.
However, despite changing its mind about the Mississippi plant project, which would have been the first by a Chinese steelmaker in the US, the company said it will continue to look for other investment opportunities in the country.
“Anshan Steel’s goal to invest in the US market remains unchanged,” the Liaoning-based steelmaker said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “Anshan Steel is committed to working closely with our US partners to move forward.”
The company’s response came after Angang Steel Co vice-chairman Chen Ming (陳明) told reporters earlier on Thursday in Hong Kong that the company’s parent, Anshan Iron & Steel, had decided to put its investment plan on hold because of the US lawmakers’ opposition.
“This is all because of the United States and we believe the chance for the project to be approved was small,” Chen said at a news conference on Angang’s quarterly results.
Anshan Iron & Steel said in May that it had agreed to take a 14 percent stake in a US$175 million facility being built in Amory, Mississippi, by Steel Development Co, a US start-up.
Chen said the company had not actually put any money into the project yet, so would not incur any loss.
“Not only would this venture have set a dangerous precedent, further undermining our domestic steel market, but it posed serious national security concerns,” Representative Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in a statement.
Murphy and Representative Pete Visclosky, an Indiana Democrat, led a group of 50 US lawmakers who had urged the Obama administration’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to investigate the proposed investment.
The lawmakers said they did not know whether CFIUS had any role in the Chinese company’s decision.
“It is our hope that CFIUS remains vigilant in ensuring that all investments in the United States are fully vetted for the purpose of protecting American national security and American jobs,” Visclosky said.
Meanwhile, Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for the US Treasury Department, said CFIUS was barred by law from commenting on whether any foreign investment had come under review.
“I can say we strongly support the longstanding bipartisan US commitment to welcoming foreign investment, including from China. Foreign investment creates significant economic benefits, including millions of well-paying jobs, for Americans here at home,” Wyeth said.
The steel state lawmakers made clear that was not their view when it came to the US steel sector.
“We will continue to fight to protect our domestic steel manufacturers should China attempt to infiltrate American steel companies in the future,” Murphy said.
The US blocks few foreign investments and according to one estimate Chinese investment in the US soared to about US$5 billion last year from roughly US$500 million annually in previous years.
However, a Chinese mining company backed out of a deal last year to invest in a Nevada gold mine about 100km from a Navy pilot training base after the CFIUS review raised security concerns.
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