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In a statement posted on its Wechat account, the Ministry of
Commerce said the United States had ignored offers of
cooperation from the government and Chinese companies in making
its ruling this week.
The statement, attributed to Wang Hejun, head of the Commerce
Ministry's trade remedy and investigation bureau, was more
strongly worded than typical responses to trade disputes with
the United States.
The statement said there were no grounds to accuse China's
downstream aluminum companies of benefiting from subsidies.
Washington has previously made similar claims about China's
banking sector, unreasonably labeling Chinese commercial banks
as public institutions, the statement also said.
The Wechat post followed news on Wednesday that China's top foil
producers are preparing to launch a legal challenge to a U.S.
Commerce Department ruling that would slap antidumping duties of
16.56 percent to 80.97 percent on Chinese aluminum foil imports.
China's government said it is highly concerned about the action
the United States is taking to provide relief to its aluminum
industry.
Washington is also investigating whether to curb aluminum
imports from China under the rarely used Section 232 of the
Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows restrictions on
imports for reasons of national security.
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is conducting a
separate investigation into steel imports from China.
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Josephine Mason and Tom
Hogue)
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