(Yicai Global) Feb. 22 -- The U.S. commerce department (DOC) instituted antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations into vulcanized rubber bands imported from China, Thailand and Sri Lanka yesterday, China's commerce ministry (MOFCOM) said today.

The claimant is Alliance Rubber Co., and this is the fourth round of AD and CVD investigations of China's exports the U.S. has initiated this year. The DOC released details of a national security investigation into imports into the U.S. of steel and aluminum products (Section 232 Investigations), claiming these seriously hurt local industries and threaten U.S. national security and accordingly proposed imposition of tariffs, quotas and other import restrictions on steel and aluminum imports to President Trump.

China pays great attention to Section 232 Investigations and believes the findings of the U.S. investigation are without basis and fully at odds with the facts, said Wang Hejun, director of MOFCOM's office of trade remedies and investigations.

The U.S. has started about one hundred AD and CVD investigations against imported steel and aluminum products and excessively protected domestic products, Wang asserted. The U.S. should not rashly take restrictive measures against these imports under the pretext of 'national security' because the term is expansive, lacks a unified definition, may easily be abused and thus will have a grievous impact on international trade if all countries follow the U.S. lead.