USW International President Leo W. Gerard released the following statement last week commending a group of 12 senators, led by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who appealed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The letter calls for the rejection of the bid by Zhongwang USA, a Chinese-controlled company, to purchase Aleris, a U.S. aluminum producer. While this potential acquisition is not a part of the paper sector, Chinese companies have also been targeting paper mills in the U.S.

“Several weeks ago, press reports highlighted Zhongwang’s extensive attempts to circumvent and evade U.S. trade laws for Chinese-produced aluminum. The Department of Homeland Security has now launched an investigation into the parent company of the firm seeking to acquire Aleris. China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd.’s network of activities is designed to undermine its competitors. The transaction must be rejected on both national and economic security grounds. China’s leaders have pushed its major state-owned and private companies to invest overseas, acquire technologies and manufacturing know-how, and expand their market share. The country continues to build up massive overcapacity in the aluminum sector and decimate U.S. production.  This transaction is part of a broader economic plan” 

To view the full text of the letter of appeal, copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.usw.org/news/CFIUS-Aluminum-11-2-2016.pdf. A copy of the earlier letter from President Gerard to Secretary Lew, who presides over CFIUS, is available here: http://usw.bytrilogy.com/assets/pdfs/references/16-09-15-USW-ltr-to-Sec-....