Trade | Global steel frictions rise as China hits back at US mills

China has pushed back after the U.S. boosted anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on some of its steel products, saying mills in the world’s biggest economy lack competitiveness because they are over-protected.
Protectionism in the U.S. steel sector is deeply worrying as these measures will only exacerbate friction without helping to solve the problem of shrinking global demand, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement yesterday. “China believes that the lack of competitiveness in the U.S. steel industry is the result of over-protection,” it said.
The world is awash in steel as demand drops in China, which accounts for about half of global production. To offset declining consumption, overcapacity and weakening prices at home, Chinese mills have boosted exports to record levels. That’s raised trade tensions worldwide, spurring a backlash from rival producers and forcing policy makers to try to address the problem, including at May’s Group-of-Seven meeting in Japan.
“China urges the U.S. to abide by the World Trade Organization’s rules and to use trade remedy measures judiciously,” the commerce ministry said after the U.S. ruling, which came Wednesday from the International Trade Commission, a federal body.
The U.S. has been “materially injured” by imports of the cold-rolled steel flat products from China, as well as Japan, which have been determined to be sold at less than fair value and subsidized, the ITC said in a statement. All six of the ITC’s commissioners backed the move, it said. Bloomberg