Posted on 12/11/2009 5:01:59 AM PST by John Leland 1789
China, the world's largest maker and consumer of steel products, fired back Thursday at the United States for its anti-dumping measures against Chinese steel exports, launching its own punitive taxes on steel from US as well as Russia.
The Ministry of Commerce said Thursday on its website that US and Russian steelmakers must pay anti-dumping duties as high as 25 percent beginning today. The US steel industry must also tack on a 12 percent tax when it exports its products to China.
The announcement comes after a series of damaging measures against Chinese steel exports launched by the US and Europe in recent months. China's provisional duties will hurt steel exporters from the US and Russia, said a Chinese steel expert.
"Investigations showed that steelmakers from the US and Russia had dumped flat-rolled electrical steel products in China," said the ministry's statement. "And American steelmakers also received a certain amount of subsidies from the US government. These moves have damaged the Chinese steel industry."
This is the first time that China has launched these specific anti-subsidy investigations. Flat-rolled electrical steels are high-end steel products, and they are mainly used for generators and power transformers.
Bloomberg said the move will "escalate a trade spat started in September."
But according to the Chinese World Trade Organization expert Zhou Shijian, the investigations and the ruling are both "in line with WTO rules."
"Chinese companies are correctly leveraging rules under the WTO framework to protect themselves. We needn't make a fuss about it," Zhou said.
Currently, few steel manufacturers in China, including Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel, have the capability of making flat-rolled electrical steel products. About 50 percent of these products are imported from overseas, said Yu Liangui, vice-director of Mysteel Research Institute, a steel consultancy based in Shanghai.
According to the institute, US and Russia in 2008 exported a combined $602 million in steel products to China.
"The news will certainly cut down on imports, but benefit local steelmakers," Yu said.
Yesterday, Baoshan Iron & Steel, the listed unit of Baosteel, fell 1.3 percent to close at 9.12 yuan. Wuhan Iron & Steel gained 3 percent to 8.57 yuan. Both are listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and were not available for comment.
China has been the target of trade protectionism since late last year. According to the ministry's statistics, by the end of October, a total of 19 nations and regions have initiated investigations on 101 trade remedy cases against Chinese exports, involving a sales volume of $11.68 billion. The US and Europe are among them the most aggressive initiators.
This year, the US and the Europe have slapped tariffs and filed complaints against Chinese steel products to the WTO.
"Chinese steelmakers were deeply affected by the rulings and cases," Yu said.
The tire case initiated by the US in September has sparked a series of trade remedy investigations and rulings aimed at China.
But Zhou said "Chinese exporters are now using WTO rules well to fight against the trade protectionist measures."
Can we start the trade war now?
LOL. The US dumped steel into China? That's a joke, right?
OTOH, our steel production is just about dead so China can do what it wants about steel - we can't compete with them.
Good they went after a Union Industry. Take that Barry. How’s that going to help the economy?
Last one to the trade war is “it”!
It’s not like the USA doesn’t have plenty of iron ore and steel. Oh that’s right, we have the EPA, stopping steel production and recycling, silly me.
Sort of like the USA has more fossil fuels than any other country, yet we are stopped from using it by, WOW, that’s strange, the very same EPA — And of course, our commie Democrats.
We’re it then.
The world and especially China has been at a state of trade war against America for decades.
We’re asleep. Worse, the only Americans who are not asleep, are in bed with the adversary and selling us down the river.
LET THE TRADE WAR BEGIN.
Send in the purple people beaters! (SEIU standing army)
why we need our own REAL industry....not just some feeble ‘information industry’...
we are deluding ourselves....when we go to war against China, will we buy our steel for weapons from them???
in 1941, Admiral Yamamoto new that our industry base was second to none and that if he did not take out our complete pacific fleet his cause was doomed....
he did not get our carriers....his cause was doomed...we took out his carriers in the battle of midway...and we were able to rebuild our armaments 20 to 1 against natural resourse, poor, Japan.
Last one standing wins this game! Let’s fire off the nukes, too!
Please post your statistics on American “pizza manufacturing” to demonstrate why we should send more American jobs, factories, industrial knowhow, and technological capability to China.
Thanks in advance.
There is an interesting article in the current Forbes.
Apparently there is massive overcapacity for steel manufacturing in China. Even though the capacity is supposedly controlled by the planners, local and regional politicos go ahead and build capacity. Other industries spring up locally to use the production of the small mills and then curtailing manufacturing by the planners hurts these small mills and the associated local customers. The politicos urge non compliance rather than see the town and other industries crash
Only after you demonstrate some proof that you care about the U.S. steel industry, instead of scoring political points.
We had a Commie Republi-Con Administration for what 8 years?
Held the House and Senate.. and those Commies didn’t do crap for AMERICA of the American People either..
Republi-Con Leadership = Demon-Crat Leadership.. Lying, thieving Whores to Foreign Interests.. Any one who pays gets to play..
Real Americans Excluded of Course.
Dump All of them, Vote them Out!!!
Dole, McCain.. those are viable Conservative Peoples Candidates? Bah Humbug..
We have been set up and it time to see the Republi-Con Leadership were the ones who did it.
W
You are right! Aren’t you, like me, just sick of hearing people say that we muust become a “service” economy? A nation full of Maytag repairmen and burger flippers.
About freakin’ time we start playing hardball...bring on the trade war. Get rid of NAFTA..and don’t give me any bull about how we’ll have to pay more for our stuff...I’ll pay more if it’s made in the USA
I agree, we need a big pruning shear. But it is being done.
My Rep is a keeper, solid conservative.
What we need to do is replace the RNC ... Do that by giving money to candidates anywhere if you like them. That effectively removes the RNC, no money to shuffle around, no power.
You can do that now, why aren't you? Why do you want your government to step into the equation? Go ahead. Pay more now if you want (unless you work in the grain-oriented electrical steel industry, in which case you might be out of a job soon, and will need all the money you have).
The funniest thing about this is that in the 3 or 4 years leading up to the Beijing Olympics, the scrap steel price in this country reached $300/net ton— and most of it was bought by and shipped to— China. It was a good use for containers that otherwise might go back to China empty. Likely a substantial portion of “Chinese” steel is recycled American steel to begin with....
hh
kinda hard to buy clothes, appliances, shoes made in the USA or haven’t you noticed?
Shopping is “hard,” for some folks, I understand. Usually they are the type who drive down to the local Wal-Mart, are too lazy to go anywhere else or shop online, and whine about what they found.
spending all day shopping to try and get a few items is what they used to do in the Soviet Union..I’d rather have a trade war and get rid of NAFTA and watch American manufacturing make a comeback
And before you piss on the hardships the people in the Soviet Union suffered, you should try to read some history on the subject.
I’m not getting through...the choices we have are foreign made...get it? That’s a problem..follow me so far? If we want to buy US made items then we will have to spend alot of time searching...is that clear enough for you?
In the interest of full disclosure, I have a Del Monte pineapple from Costa Rica sitting on my kitchen table right now. I didn't feel like finding one that was grown elsewhere, I paid a good price for it, I'm happy with it, and I don't feel threatened by it in any way. All that means is that I don't buy 100% of the stuff I buy from American sources. I don't buy stuff from China, or any other country I do not perceive to be an ally of the United States. Try it sometime, it can be done. If you have the time.
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