Trade Cases
China Questions Legitimacy of EU Duties on Hot Rolled Steel
Written by Sandy Williams
June 11, 2017
China strongly condemned new antidumping and countervailing duties imposed Friday by the European Union on imports of hot-rolled flat steel from China. The EC applied definitive AD/CVD duties of up to 35.9 percent.
Commerce ministry official Wang Hejun said in a statement on Friday, “The European Commission ignores the fact that China’s steel exports to Europe clearly declined in 2016, using China’s steel overcapacity as an excuse to claim that China’s hot-rolled flat steel products threaten to damage industry in the EU when that is mere speculation with little bearing on reality.
“China strongly questions the legitimacy and legality of the European Commission’s ruling,” added Wang.
He argued that state-owned Chinese banks are independent market entities and that the EC continues to mistake bank loans as preferential lending. “It even disregarded basic financial facts by mistaking some bank loans directly as bestowal, inflating the subsidy range and seriously infringing the rights of Chinese companies,” he said.
Wang contended that not only does China not subsidize steel exports, it has taken steps to reduce them. “It is biased and unfair for Europe to blame China for its own industrial issues,” he said. “Unjustified accusations and reckless trade rescue measures will not help to solve the problem.”
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said the Commission is trying to “level the playing field” and protect European steelmakers from the flood of exports from China. “We are continuing to act, when necessary, against unfair trading conditions in the steel sector, and against foreign dumping,” Malmstroem said in a statement.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases
SMU Survey: Less support seen for Trump tariff policies
Meanwhile, an increasing number think it's too early to say whether the penalties are going to bring more manufacturing to the US.
CRU: USW seeks exclusion for Canada from Trump’s tariffs
The union is also urging stronger enforcement against countries such as China which break trade rules, and a coordinated Canada-US strategy to protect union jobs across the North America
Price on trade: A lot happened last week – and it wasn’t all about tariffs
Should foreign investment be allowed to reshape the American steel Industry? Not to be lost in the recent on-again-off-again tariff frenzy, Nippon Steel’s proposed takeover of U.S. Steel has also found itself in President Trump’s crosshairs when it comes to trade and industrial policy. Nippon Steel initially announced its nearly $15-billion bid for U.S. Steel […]
Trump signs executive order aimed at making US shipbuilding ‘great again’
President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order meant to breathe new life into American shipbuilding and curb Chinese dominance in the sector.
Trump still against selling USS to Japanese firm: Report
Despite ordering a new review of Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel, President Trump said he is still against selling USS to a Japanese company, according to media reports.