Foreign trade security

China concerned by U.S. probe of aluminum imports on national security grounds

China is "concerned" by Washington's probe into aluminum imports from the world's top producer of the metal on national security grounds, China's Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, as the two economies' 100-day trade talks continue.

Washington is investigating aluminum imports from China under the rarely used section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 that allows restrictions on imports for reasons of national security. The administration is also conducting a separate investigation into steel.

"The scale of 'national security' is very wide and lacking clear definition, which is easily misused and therefore posing restrictions on normal flow of international trade," Sun Jiwen, spokesman at China's Commerce Ministry, said at a weekly briefing.

His comments come after senior officials told Reuters that U.S. President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues and is now considering possible trade actions against Beijing.