Twelve U.S. senators on Wednesday urged that a national security review panel reject Chinese aluminum giant Zhongwang International Group Ltd.'s proposed $2.3 billion purchase of U.S. aluminum products maker Aleris Corp.
The senators asked Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in a letter to launch a review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) and "ultimately reject it" on grounds that it will damage the U.S. defense industrial base.
"Zhongwang's purchase of Aleris would directly undermine our national security, including by jeopardizing the U.S. manufacturing base for sensitive technologies in an industry already devastated by the effects of China's market distorting policies, and creating serious risk that sensitive technologies and know-how will be transferred to China, further imperiling U.S. defense interests," the senators wrote.