Sany Group sues Obama and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States: Fighting for dignity

Sany Group sues Obama and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States: Fighting for dignity Xinhuanet, Beijing, October 18 (Reporter Chen Yuming) Sany Group held a meeting in Beijing on the 18th...

In March this year, Ralls Corporation, a subsidiary of Sany Group in the United States, acquired four wind farm projects in Oregon, USA. Since then, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), chaired by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, demanded that Ralls immediately cease operations on the grounds that it allegedly threatened U.S. national security and prohibited the transfer of all equipment until all equipment was removed. On September 28, US President Obama issued a presidential order requiring the suspension of the wind power project at the wind farm.

On October 1, Rolls & Co. submitted a complaint to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, naming President Obama and CFIUS as co-defendants and taking them to court. Sany Group believes that because the controller of Rolls-Royce is a Chinese citizen, President Obama and CFIUS have carried out selective enforcement against Rolls-Rolls' wind farm project, which violated the constitutional rights of equal protection enjoyed by Rolls-Rolls.

Niu Xinchun, deputy director of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, believes that the U.S. ban on the Sany Wind Farm project is not an isolated case, and there are multiple reasons behind it, including economic, political and electoral reasons.

” From the perspective of economic factors, the United States bans industries that have high technological content and where we have competitive advantages. From the perspective of political factors, the United States has always distrusted our political system; whether it is Sanyi or the recent US House of Representatives report, The reasons cited by the United States for banning Huawei and ZTE are that they may endanger the national security of the United States. From an electoral perspective, banning foreign investment is not conducive to employment; but when it comes to issues involving China, American politicians often prefer to be tougher than right," Niu Xinchun said.

"Sany has not done and will not do anything that harms U.S. national security in the past." Wu Jialiang, deputy general manager of Sany Group and CEO of Rolls-Royce, said, "The reason why we are suing on U.S. soil is CFIUS and President Obama have shown that we have full confidence in the rule of law in the United States. If we can win this lawsuit: it is first of all a victory for the rule of law in the United States, which will prove that the United States is a country where investors can invest with confidence."

Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, believes that the actions of the US government not only violate the laws of the United States, but also violate the bilateral investment protection agreement signed by China and the United States in the 1980s, casting a very heavy shadow on the development of bilateral direct investment between China and the United States.

However, relevant legal experts are not optimistic about the outcome of this case. Xia Tingkang, lawyer for the Sany Wind Power Project litigation case, said that this is the first time a foreign company has filed a lawsuit against CFIUS since its establishment. It is unprecedented, and it is indeed difficult to win this case.

"Although the outcome of the case is unpredictable, the process is more important than the result. We must safeguard the dignity of Sany and the dignity of Chinese enterprises; when we are treated unfairly, we must not just swallow our anger." Xiang Wenbo said, "We firmly oppose all forms of trade protectionism, but market opening between countries should follow the principle of reciprocity; when the United States frequently blocks Chinese companies in the name of national security, China cannot take its own national security lightly."