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2010-9-18 00:20
China's Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corp. said Wednesday it will buy 14% of a start-up Mississippi steelmaker and jointly invest in up to five mills, pushing ahead with a deal that has sparked strong lawmaker opposition in the U.S. over concerns about the technology used.
Anshan, based in Liaoning province, said in a statement Wednesday that it will partner with Amory, Miss.-based Steel Development Co. Initially they intend to build a $168 million plant in the U.S. company's hometown, deploying high-tech production methods. The investment plans, which were initially outlined by the companies in May, have drawn harsh criticism in the U.S. over worries technology will flow to China and jobs will be lost. In July, 50 U.S. lawmakers, representing the Congressional Steel Caucus, wrote to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging the department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, to review the joint-venture plan on national-security grounds. A Treasury Department spokesperson declined to comment on the case Wednesday. In a joint statement released Wednesday, Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Pete Visclosky (D, Ind.) and Vice Chairman Tim Murphy (R, Pa.) expressed disappointment over the Anshan deal. 'China's investment sets a dangerous precedent that undermines our domestic steel market and could have serious ramifications for our national security,' the congressmen said. The steel industry has been a flashpoint elsewhere in the Sino-U.S. relationship. China's is the world's largest and fastest expanding, while the industry has lost jobs in the U.S. In Washington this week, the U.S. International Trade Commission has held hearings on whether certain steel-tube imports from China are being subsidized and having an adverse impact on U.S. workers. Separately, the United Steelworkers union is urging Washington to investigate China's policies in various clean-technology industries. The new venture aims to produce silicon grades of steel that can be used in items such as windmills. Also in the U.S., support is widespread in traditionally industrial regions for wider application of tariffs on imported Chinese goods, including steel products. Amid the clamor last month, an Anshan official suggested in comments to reporters the joint venture with Steel Development might not proceed. The new joint venture will focus on cleaner methods for producing steel products including reinforcing bar used in construction. The first plant, in Mississippi, isn't yet constructed. Other partners in the venture include U.S., German, Japanese, Italian and Canadian companies, the statement said. Wednesday in Beijing, John Correnti, chairman and chief executive of the Mississippi company, played down the venture's impact on U.S. industry. He said the Mississippi plant will produce 330,000 tons of bar a year against U.S. demand of nine million tons. The plant is expected to start production in 2012. His Chinese partner, Mr. Correnti said, is 'directly helping create good, high-paying jobs which is and will be a major focus of the business community in the United States.' The message was echoed by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, which said in a statement it 'hopes this agreement signals to Chinese companies that the United States is open for investment.' Anshan President Zhang Xiagang said the venture will help his company remain 'among the world leaders in terms of steel production technology, environmental protections and profitability.' A former U.S. government official involved in the Cfius process said Cfius has reviewed steel cases in the past. He said the Anshan proposed venture would produce reinforcing bars, the wire used for building bridges and the foundations of buildings, among other things. If any of those bars were to be used in government buildings or infrastructures, the company could get access to the schematics of those structures, thereby having a potential national security implication. The former official said that while the current Cfius process doesn't allow for any review based on economic considerations, the deal also raised the question of what the potential impact might be of allowing a state-owned entity such as Anshan -- which could have access to government subsidized loans and other benefits -- to compete with U.S. companies in the domestic market. 中国鞍山钢铁集团公司(Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corp.)周三说，将购买美国密西西比州一个新建钢铁厂14%的股权，并与之共同投资建设五个钢厂，进一步推动了引起美国立法者强烈反对的交易，反对的理由是担心钢铁生产技术外泄。
辽宁鞍钢集团周三在一份声明中表示，将与美国密西西比州钢铁发展公司(Steel Development Co.)合作。起初，双方计划在密西西比州建造一个造价1.68亿美元、使用高科技生产技术的钢厂。 双方最早在5月提出的这项投资计划招来美国国内的严厉指责，原因是担心钢铁生产技术流向中国，美国钢铁工人因此失去工作机会。 7月，代表美国国会钢铁行业议员小组(Congressional Steel Caucus)的50名立法者联名致信美国财政部部长盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)，敦促财政部下属的美国海外投资委员会(Committee on Foreign Investment)或美国外国投资委员会(Cfius)以国家安全为由审议该合资计划。 美国财政部发言人周三拒绝对合资一事置评。 美国国会钢铁行业议员小组主席兼印第安纳州民主党议员维斯卡洛斯基(Pete Visclosky)和副主席兼宾夕法尼亚州共和党议员墨菲(Tim Murphy)在周三公布的一份联合声明中对鞍钢集团的收购协议表示失望。他们说，中国投资美国钢铁业是一个危险的先例，这会破坏国内钢铁市场，甚至可能对美国国家安全造成严重影响。 钢铁业是中美关系中又一个一触即发的问题。中国钢铁业在世界上规模最大、增长最快，而美国钢铁业的工作岗位却在减少。 美国国际贸易委员会(International Trade Commission)本周在华盛顿召开了听证会，讨论中国输美的某些钢管是否存在补贴且是否对美国工人造成不利影响。 另外，美国联合钢铁工人工会(United Steelworkers)敦促华盛顿对中国各种清洁技术行业政策发起调查。此次新建的合资钢厂计划生产可用于风力发电机等设备的硅钢。 另外，在美国传统的工业重镇，人们也普遍支持对包括钢铁产品在内的中国商品实施更加广泛的关税惩罚。在上个月的争议中，鞍钢一位人士向媒体发言时暗示，与钢铁发展公司（Steel Development）组建合资公司的事宜可能无法取得进展。 新的合资公司在生产建筑钢筋等钢铁产品时，将注重使用更加清洁的方法。位于密西西比的第一座工厂尚未建成。前述声明说，和鞍钢一起组建合资公司的其他合作伙伴包括美国、德国、日本、意大利和加拿大的公司。 周三在北京，钢铁发展公司董事长兼首席执行长科伦蒂(John Correnti)在合资公司将对美国钢铁工业产生何种影响的问题上做了淡化处理。他说，密西西比工厂将产年钢筋33万吨，而美国的需求为900万吨。该厂预计于2012年开始生产。 科伦蒂说，他的中国合作伙伴正在直接地帮助创建良好、高薪酬的工作岗位，创造工作岗位现在是、将来也是美国商界的一个主要关注点。 这个信息得到了中国美国商会(American Chamber of Commerce in China)的呼应。中国美国商会发表声明说，它希望这份协议向中国公司发出信号，表明美国是不排斥投资的。 鞍钢总经理张晓刚说，合资公司将帮助他的公司在钢铁生产技术、环境保护和盈利能力方面继续处在世界前列。 一位曾任职美国政府、参与美国海外投资委员会审议过程的人士说，该委员会过去也曾审议过钢铁行业的案子。他说，鞍钢拟建的合资公司将生产钢筋（用于建设桥梁和地基的钢条）等产品，如果其中有钢筋被用于政府大楼或基础设施的建设，那么鞍钢可能就会拿到这些建筑的框架结构图，从而对美国的国家安全构成潜在影响。 这位前官员说，虽然海外投资委员会当前的流程不允许基于经济上的考虑来进行审议，但鞍钢这笔交易另外还提出了一个问题：鞍钢这种国有企业可能能够获得政府补贴贷款等福利，允许它进入美国国内市场同美国公司展开竞争，又会产生何种潜在的影响？ |