China urges U.S. to abide by WTO rules in aluminum foil trade remedy investigation

A Chinese commerce official on Wednesday urged U.S. authorities to abide by World Trade Organization rules in the ongoing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation concerning Chinese aluminum foil.

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

Improper trade remedy measures will hurt the interests of Chinese aluminum foil exporters and dent the competitiveness of U.S. downstream sectors, impacting employment and consumer interests, Wang said, adding that it would lead to a no-win situation.

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

China hopes the two sides could solve common concerns through consultation and dialogue to seek the mutual development of the aluminum sector, Wang said. Endi