Clinton condemns Trump for using Chinese steel and aluminium in his namesake towers

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee is facing stern criticism in US for using steel and aluminium from China for the construction of his namesake towers.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on October 19 criticised her GOP (Grand Old Party) counterpart, Donald Trump for using materials that are traded into US using unfair means.

Clinton referred to a Newsweek report that said that Trump used steel and aluminium "dumped" on the U.S. in his buildings in Chicago and Las Vegas. According to Newsweek, Trump hired Permasteelisa Cladding Technologies, a Connecticut-based company that imports steel and aluminium from China to construct to supply metal for his Chicago building.



The Newsweek report said: "During the time of the Trump Chicago construction, according to documents filed with the United States Court of International Trade by the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce, Permasteelisa was dumping aluminum used in curtain walls, meaning it was using predatory pricing to sell the products below the cost of production or the amount charged in China."

According to the report Trump Tower in Chicago has a "curtain wall" which is constructed out of 11,500 glass panels framed with 207,000 feet of aluminium extrusion profiles. Newsweek uses documents as evidence to link the Trump project to unfair imports.

{googleAdsense}

The report however says that Trump’s action cannot be considered illegal but claims that it is detrimental to the interest of the domestic steel and aluminium industry and estimates that the decision made American companies lose about $350 million.

Trump however did not comment on the allegations. In contrast to his action, during his campaign trail, Trump cited American steel and aluminium industry's crisis as an example of unfair trade deals, insisting that the situation "is essentially killing our steel workers."