China Steel Association: US Launches Steel Import Investigation

A spokesperson for the China Iron and Steel Industry Association issued a statement on the 26th regarding the US launch of an investigation into imported steel, saying that China steel industry believes that the US move sends a protectionist signal to the international community and is inconsistent with the principle of fair trade. China steel industry will keep an eye on this.China Iron and Steel Association and China steel industry noted that U.S. President Trump signed an administrative memorandum on April 20, requiring the U.S. Department of Commerce to immediately investigate whether steel imports should be blocked on the grounds of harming national security, and said the investigation was not directed at China. Despite this, China's steel industry believes that the US move sends a protectionist signal to the international community and is inconsistent with the principle of fair trade. China's steel industry will keep an eye on this.The United States is both a major steel consumer and a major steel importer in the world. According to US statistics, in 2016, the United States imported 29.96 million tons of steel from around the world, a year-on-year decrease of 14.8%, with an amount of US$22.3 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 26.4%. This has further intensified the pressure on the international steel market.A spokesperson for the China Steel Association said that China's steel exports to the United States are very limited and will not affect the security of the U.S. steel industry at all. The main source of steel imports from the United States is other countries rather than China. According to Chinese statistics, in 2016, China exported 1.17 million tons of steel to the United States, accounting for 1% of China's overall exports, with an amount of US$1.7 billion, accounting for 3% of China's overall steel exports. According to US statistics, in 2016, the United States imported 789,000 tons of steel from China, accounting for 2.6% of the total US imports, with an amount of US$910 million, accounting for 4.1% of the total US steel imports.A spokesperson for the China Steel Association said that in fact, China and the United States are also facing the problem of global steel overcapacity. As a major steel producer, consumer and trading country, China has taken practical measures to resolve excess production capacity. In 2016, the steel industry withdrew production capacity of more than 65 million tons. In 2017, we will continue to resolve steel production capacity and vigorously promote structural adjustment, transformation and upgrading of the steel industry. It is hoped that the United States will also move in the same direction, make more efforts to adjust the structure of the steel industry, eliminate backward production capacity, and improve the level of industrial modernization, give full play to the influence and role of the U.S. steel industry, and promote the healthy development of the international steel industry.