Latest news with #China-affiliated
Korea Herald
09-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
US unveils plan to install 'fast track' process to encourage investment from allies, partners
The US Treasury Department said Thursday that it will establish a "fast-track" process to encourage greater investment in US businesses from US allies and partners. The move came after President Donald Trump signed the "America First Investment Policy" memorandum in February to create the process and restrict China-affiliated people from investing in America's strategic sectors, including critical infrastructure. "Treasury is committed to maintaining and enhancing the open investment environment that benefits our economy, while making sure that process efficiencies do not diminish our ability to identify and address national security risks that can accompany foreign investment," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The fast track process will include the creation of a "Known Investor" portal where the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US can collect information from foreign investors before an official filing is made, according to the department. CFIUS is an interagency committee tasked with reviewing certain transactions involving foreign investment in the US and certain real estate transactions by foreigners in order to determine the effect of such transactions on America's national security. The department said it seeks to increase efficiencies in the CFIUS process to facilitate greater investment from US allies and partners where there is "verifiable distance and independence from foreign adversaries or threat actors."
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Korea Zinc Warns of Growing U.S. Concerns Over MBK Partners' Takeover Attempt
SEOUL, South Korea, March 07, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Several notable US House of Representatives members and other political figures have expressed concerns regarding MBK Partners' attempted takeover of Korea Zinc (KRX:010130), the world's largest zinc smelter. They have raised alarms that this hostile takeover could expand China's influence over critical mineral supply chains and pose risks to U.S. national security. The widespread concern over MBK's attempted acquisition has been reported in local media such as The Korea Herald. On March 5, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a member of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, sent a letter to Diane Farrell, the Acting Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In her letter, she urged the U.S. government to take action to counter China's increasing control in the mineral and resource sectors. Rep. Miller-Meeks, who shared the letter on her X account, underscored the need for the U.S. to secure independent and resilient supply chains by strengthening domestic mining and investing in partnerships with allies. Directly addressing MBK's takeover attempt, she warned, "I have been informed that China-linked entities are attempting to gain control over Korea Zinc through a hostile takeover attempt led by MBK Partners." She also highlighted Korea Zinc's vital role in ensuring an independent supply chain, stating, "This is an industry dominated by China, and independent entities like Korea Zinc play a crucial role in supplying critical materials, including those now under China's export restrictions." Korea Zinc is a key global supplier of several rare metals—such as antimony, indium, tellurium, and cadmium—materials that China has recently placed under export restrictions. These metals are essential for semiconductor manufacturing, renewable energy, and defense industries, making them directly relevant to U.S. security interests. The concerns raised by Rep. Miller-Meeks align with those previously expressed by Rep. Zach Nunn, who sent a similar letter to Farrell on February 19. Rep. Nunn, in his letter posted on X, warned that, "If the Chinese Communist Party is successful in gaining influence over Korea Zinc, it will further China's control over critical mineral supply chains, heightening the risks of economic coercion and technology leakage." Additionally, former U.S. Representative Vin Weber echoed these concerns, warning that MBK's investment history raises legitimate fears about China-affiliated entities gaining access through its transactions. In a letter to Geoffrey Pyatt, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, Weber cautioned, "This could lead to both a widespread technology transfer to Chinese entities as well as the dismantling of an important global player in the joint United States-Korea effort to insulate and expand critical minerals supply chains away from the People's Republic of China." The repeated warnings from U.S. lawmakers and policymakers reflect mounting concerns in Washington that MBK's takeover bid could disrupt ongoing efforts to strengthen critical mineral supply chains in collaboration with key allies. Meanwhile, the MBK-Young Poong alliance and Korea Zinc are awaiting a critical decision from the Seoul courts, which could have significant implications for the company's management. MBK Partners has filed an injunction seeking to nullify the resolutions passed at Korea Zinc's extraordinary shareholders' meeting, which reaffirmed Chairman Yun B. Choi's leadership. Concerns over MBK's ability to responsibly manage Korea Zinc have only intensified throughout recent months, particularly given its track record that may show it prioritizes short-term financial gains over sustainable business operations. This issue has been further underscored by the recent corporate rehabilitation request filed by Homeplus, the hypermarket chain that MBK acquired in 2015. At the time, MBK's KRW 7.2 trillion (USD 5 billion) acquisition of Homeplus was the largest private equity buyout in Asia-Pacific history. However, the firm reportedly raised KRW 5 trillion from external sources to finance the deal, only to struggle with mounting financial costs, raising further doubts about its capacity to manage a complex and strategically vital business like Korea Zinc. View source version on Contacts Korea ZincDongwoo Park+82-2-6947-2469dwpark@
South China Morning Post
24-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
What does Trump's ‘America First Investment Policy' mean for China?
US President Donald Trump signed an 'America First Investment Policy' memorandum on Saturday, ordering the use of 'all necessary legal instruments' to curb Chinese-affiliated investments in critical sectors. Advertisement The order, issued hours after Vice-Premier He Lifeng spoke with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent , has sparked concerns among Chinese investors and heightened tensions between the two economic powers. This explainer breaks down the policy's scope, its implications for Hong Kong and Macau, and the potential impacts on China. What are the key areas the policy covers? The memorandum said the administration would restrict China-affiliated people from investing in American technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials and other strategic sectors, while also deterring Americans from investing in China's military-industrial sector. The Trump administration also plans to review whether to suspend or terminate the 1984 tax treaty between the countries on the grounds that it, along with other factors, contributed 'to the deindustrialisation of the United States and the technological modernisation of the PRC military'. The memorandum also considers new or expanded restrictions on US outbound investment in China 'in sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, biotechnology, hypersonics, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, directed energy, and other areas implicated by [China's] national military-civil fusion strategy'. Advertisement 'Economic security is national security,' the memorandum says, adding that China 'does not allow United States companies to take over their critical infrastructure, and the United States should not allow [China]to take over United States critical infrastructure'. The memorandum does not provide a clear timeline of actions.
Korea Herald
22-02-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Trump inks memo to facilitate allies' investment, restrict China from investing in strategic sectors
US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Friday to create a "fast-track" process to facilitate investment from US allies and partners, and restrict China-affiliated people from investing in America's strategic sectors. Trump inked the "America First Investment Policy" memo, accusing China and other foreign adversaries of systematically directing and facilitating investment in US companies and assets to obtain cutting-edge technologies, intellectual property and leverage in strategic industries. "The United States will create an expedited fast-track process, based on objective standards, to facilitate greater investment from specified allied and partner sources in US businesses involved with US advanced technology and other important areas," the memo read. "This process will allow for increased foreign investment subject to appropriate security provisions, including requirements that the specified foreign investors avoid partnering with US foreign adversaries," it added. The memo also said that the US will use all necessary legal instruments, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency government body, to restrict China-affiliated persons from investing in US technology, critical infrastructure, health care, agriculture, energy and raw materials, among other sectors. "My Administration will protect United States farmland and real estate near sensitive facilities," it said. The document includes a directive to reduce the exploitation of public and private sector capital, technology and technical knowledge by foreign adversaries, including China. "The United States will establish new rules to stop US companies and investors from investing in industries that advance the PRC's national Military-Civil Fusion strategy and stop PRC-affiliated persons from buying up critical American businesses and assets, allowing only those investments that serve American interests," it said. PRC is short for China's official name, the People's Republic of China. The memo underscored that America's investment policy is critical to the US' national and economic security. "Welcoming foreign investment and strengthening the US' world-leading private and public capital markets will be a key part of America's Golden Age," it said. (Yonhap)
