China urges US to abide by WTO rules in aluminium foil trade

Beijing: China on Wednesday urged the US authorities to abide by World Trade Organisation rules in the ongoing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation concerning Chinese aluminium foil.

The US Department of Commerce launched an investigation after the Aluminium Association Trade Enforcement Working Group accused Chinese aluminium foil producers of using improper subsidies and selling at unfair prices, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Sino-US aluminium industries are highly complementary. The US started to reduce production of low-value-added aluminium 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 aluminium foil exporters and dent the competitiveness of US downstream sectors, impacting employment and consumer interests, Wang said, adding that it would lead to a no-win situation.

Wang urged the US 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 aluminium sector, Wang said.