China urges US to halt tariff probe into copper imports

BEIJING (Reuters) - China urged the United States on Thursday to halt an investigation into potential new tariffs on copper imports to rebuild U.S. production of the critical metal, vowing to retaliate if Chinese entities got caught up in the levies.

President Donald Trump's decision to direct the Commerce Department to start a new national security probe under the same law he used during his first term to impose 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminium "will further undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system and disrupt the stability of global industrial supply chains," said He Yadong, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson.

"The allegation that China is using subsidies and excess capacity to undermine competition is completely groundless," He told a news conference.

Trump wants to rebuild U.S. copper production as the metal is critical to the manufacture of electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid and many consumer goods.

His new probe will be carried out under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

"We urge the U.S. side to withdraw its investigation as soon as possible," He said.

"If the U.S. insists on imposing tariffs and other restrictive measures, China will resolutely take the required steps to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," He said, without giving any further details.

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christian Schmollinger)

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