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On July 20, Yao Jian, the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC), stated that, if the US government politicizes the planned investment by private sector Chinese steelmaker Anshan Iron and Steel (Angang) in the US, this will be considered by China as a case of trade protectionism.

Mr. Yao added that the US market should open up further to provide a healthy investment environment for Chinese enterprises. It is unwise to regard a single commercial investment as a threat to a nation's security, the MOC official said.

As reported by SteelOrbis, on July 2, a group of US lawmakers sent a letter to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, asking for an investigation as to whether Angang's plans to invest in a rebar facility in Amory, Mississippi should be blocked, citing concerns over national security. The American Iron and Steel Institute subsequently came out in support of the letter sent by the lawmakers. Angang, on the other hand, stressed that its investment plans are of a strictly commercial nature, while the China Iron and Steel Association said that intervention by the US government against Angang's planned investment would constitute protectionism.

Meanwhile, Angang's US partner Steel Development Co. stated that the investment will not harm US security and stressed that it will not abandon its plans to cooperate with Angang.