China’s Anshan Iron & Steel Group yesterday backed away from a planned investment in a US-based steel mill after the deal was heavily criticised by US lawmakers.
The Chinese steel investment would have been the first of its kind in the US. The decision to postpone the investment comes as US security officials have forced at least two Chinese companies to abandon deals over the past year because they were seen as posing a threat to US national security. One transaction involved a Nevada mining company and the other a fibre optics maker.
The circumstances surrounding the Anshan case are different than the other thwarted investments because the company’s proposed 14 per cent stake in a $175m facility in Mississippi is not believed to have been formally vetted by US security officials.