Business
20:15, 11-Aug-2017
Opinions divided on steel tariffs in the US
["north america"]
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US President Donald Trump recently explained why he's waiting on implementing steel tariffs. In the meantime, steel producers and steel users in the US are lobbying the White House against each other on the issue.
Trump wants to penalize China for producing more steel than it can use, accusing their overcapacity of depressing global steel prices. According to the Chinese government, Chinese steel output rose nearly six percent in April of this year, above a previous all-time high last spring.
But the US imports more steel from Canada, Mexico and Brazil than it does from China. And the US already has tariffs on Chinese steel in compliance with international law.
Experts say that the problem with Trump's proposed tariffs is that he is justifying them in the name of national security, a move which is against World Trade Organization rules designed to guard against protectionism.