U.S. launches national security probe into aluminum imports

The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday launched an investigation to determine whether a flood of aluminum imports from China and elsewhere are compromising U.S. national security, a step that could lead to broad import restrictions on the metal.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the investigation is similar to one announced last week for steel imports into the United States, invoking Section 232 of a national security law passed in 1962 at the height of the Cold War.

Ross told reporters that the probe was prompted by the extreme competitive pressures that unfairly traded imports are putting on the U.S. aluminum industry, causing several domestic smelters to close or halt production in recent years.

The move is the latest of several potential U.S. actions aimed at stemming a rising tide of aluminum imports. The Commerce Department is investigating allegations that Chinese companies are dumping aluminum foil into the U.S. market below cost and are benefiting from unfair subsidies.

Ross said part of the justification for the investigation is that U.S. combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter and the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet require high-purity aluminum that is now produced by only one smelter, Century Aluminum Co.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)