Tariffs have spared American industry from the worst of the damage, but the global steel crisis has already begun.
China’s steel exports have soared Highest level since 2016an increase of 21% compared to the same period last year. This is a sharp rise that casts a dark cloud over the global steel industry, but it is by no means surprising.
The latest data is World Forum on Steel Overcapacity (GFSEC) said in a ministerial statement that the global steel overcapacity is the same as the world has experienced since the 2016 steel crisis, when an absolute flood of cheap steel imports forced factories across the country to shut down. It is expected to reach record high levels. GFSEC estimates that member countries have lost between 134,000 and 190,000 valuable steel jobs over the past decade, as steel overproduction continues to put pressure on global markets.
While GFSEC stopped short of explicitly condemning China’s huge steel overcapacity, it blamed the global problem on China’s notorious non-market policies and practices. Still, if we want to get to the heart of the problem through international cooperation, as the steel group has called for in recent statements, we must get to the heart of the problem: China.
The American Manufacturing Alliance recently report It examines growing concerns about China’s excess steel production and highlights China’s extensive history of market manipulation to fuel excess steel capacity, despite pledges to curb production.
“Over the past decade, in the face of increasing international pressure, the Chinese government has taken every conceivable step to address overcapacity in steel manufacturing, including issuing plans, drafting memorandums and guidelines, and making negotiating commitments. Yet, despite repeated promises to curb it, China’s overcapacity continues to grow, again largely in the large steel industry after the last global overcapacity crisis. In response to the recent fallout, China has shut down 700 small steel mills with a capacity of 140 tonnes of steel, which is considered substandard, and has embarked on a four-year effort to cut capacity by an additional 150 tonnes. A big company. Chinese steel manufacturers still maintained increased production, producing a record 928.26 tons of crude steel in 2018, a world record that has since been broken.
Section 232 tariffs have somewhat insulated the United States from the worst of China’s steel overcapacity crisis, but that protection must be combined with other defenses. As we insist within ourselves, “Shockwave” reportNow is the time to give American workers the trade tools they need to compete in this deeply imbalanced global market, said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. I’ve been looking for it for a long time.
These tools include reinstatement and modernization of Section 421 import surge protections, updated anti-dumping and countervailing tools as proposed in the Level Playing Field Act 2.0, and enhancements to Section 232 and Section 301 tools. Continued use should be included.
Now is the time to strengthen America’s trade defenses before the steel industry, the backbone of our economic success and national security, collapses under the weight of a flood of Chinese steel exports.
