U.S. adviser warns against protectionism

WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) -- A Washington economist said Monday the G8 industrial nations should not block company acquisitions for reasons other than national security.

Dan Price, economics adviser to the National Security Council, said the G8 nations should "lead by example," the Financial Times reported.

Price defended the U.S. policy of scrutinizing foreign acquisitions, saying, "our review of a fraction of transactions is on the narrow grounds of national security."

He also said "a number of G8 countries" review transactions for reasons that are not connected to national security.

Businesses are increasingly concerned their efforts to invest in Chinese companies might be curtailed if China followed "a Japan-type model of being less welcoming of foreign investment," the Commerce Department's undersecretary for international trade, Christopher Padilla, told the Financial Times.