Although China is the world's largest steel-producing country, less than one percent of its steel products were exported to the US last year, a recent study from a leading US think tank showed, making China irrelevant to the steel investigation being conducted by the US government.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to slap tariffs on steel imports, and Washington could start levying the charges as soon as July 13. Claiming that "both the United States and global markets for steel products are distorted by large volumes of excess capacity," Trump initiated an investigation on whether steel imports threaten to impair national security on April 20.
Although Trump said the investigation has nothing to do with China, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who has been leading the investigation, suggested that China was a major target.
US President Donald Trump at a press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC on April 20, 2017. /AFP Photo
However, the US purchased just 0.9 percent of Chinese steel exports in 2016, according to a report from Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), a leading think tank based in Washington D.C.
China's steel exports to the US plunged by 57 percent from 2.21 million tons in 2015 to 0.95 million tons in 2016, because four trade remedies, including anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) imposed by the Obama administration went into effect in 2016. At the end of last year, 20 US trade remedies against steel mill imports from China were in effect.
Trump's plan to restrict steel imports for national security reasons has also put trade disputes to the top of the G20 agenda, as world leaders gather for the summit in Hamburg.
A worker at a steel mill in Rancho Cucamonga, California, US. /VCG Photo
Unfair protectionism against China
With a 3.5 percent year-on-year drop in steel exports in 2016, Chinese steel companies are actually losing ground in many overseas markets, after becoming the main targets of protectionist policies.
China only ranked as the 11th biggest source of steel imports for the United States, while the Republic of Korea has long overtaken China as the top exporter to India.
There are currently 20 effective trade remedies against Chinese steel products in the United States, the most among all import sources.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has kept urging Washington to abide by its commitment against protectionism and help maintain a free, open and just international trade environment.
A worker checks the quality of seamless steel tubes at a steel factory in Huaibei, Anhui Province, China. /VCG Photo
Capacity-cutting in full swing in China
China is in the middle of a painful downsizing in its steel sector.
Crude steel output retreated 2.33 percent year-on-year in 2015, the first drop in a quarter of a century.
More than 65 million tons of steel production capacity was phased out in 2016. As of the end of May, 42.39 million tons of capacity had been slashed, accounting for 84.8 percent of the annual goal.
China plans to reduce its steel capacity by 100 million to 150 million tons by 2020.
(With inputs from Xinhua)
Related stories:
China urges US to abide by WTO rules after 'steel dumping' measures
