Chinese Ministry of Commerce comments on U.S. frequent investigations upon imported steel products
2017-05-12 17:30:30 [Print]
On May 10, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the U.S. government will launch anti-dumping investigations upon imported steel products (cold drawn mechanical tubes made by carbon steel and alloy steel) from China, Germany, India, Italy, South Korea and Switzerland; and meanwhile, it will also launch an anti-subsidy investigations upon those products imported from China and India. Mr. Wang Hejun, director of Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Commerce of China, commented upon the U.S. investigations.
According to Mr. Wang, WTO member countries have paid attention to the U.S. as it frequently carries out trade investigations upon its imported steel products and accordingly adopts limitative measures. Statistics from U.S International Trade Commission showed that, from 2000 to 2016, the U.S. imposed 283 limitative measures upon its imported products, of which 147 were upon steel products, taking up to 52% of the total. Overdone trade protectionism makes the U.S. steel enterprises lack momentum for industrial upgrade and lose advantages in international competition. Failing to help solve issues the U.S. steel enterprises face, such protectionism also does harm to its trading partners’ interests.
Mr. Wang emphasized that China consistently opposes abusive usage of trade remedy investigations, which not only fails to alleviate harms claimed by U.S. applicants, but also are bad for downstream interests of the U.S. steel industry. He hoped that the U.S. trade authorities will cautiously and fairly handle this case and try to provide a stable and expectable market environment for trade and cooperation between itself and other countries.
According to Mr. Wang, WTO member countries have paid attention to the U.S. as it frequently carries out trade investigations upon its imported steel products and accordingly adopts limitative measures. Statistics from U.S International Trade Commission showed that, from 2000 to 2016, the U.S. imposed 283 limitative measures upon its imported products, of which 147 were upon steel products, taking up to 52% of the total. Overdone trade protectionism makes the U.S. steel enterprises lack momentum for industrial upgrade and lose advantages in international competition. Failing to help solve issues the U.S. steel enterprises face, such protectionism also does harm to its trading partners’ interests.
Mr. Wang emphasized that China consistently opposes abusive usage of trade remedy investigations, which not only fails to alleviate harms claimed by U.S. applicants, but also are bad for downstream interests of the U.S. steel industry. He hoped that the U.S. trade authorities will cautiously and fairly handle this case and try to provide a stable and expectable market environment for trade and cooperation between itself and other countries.
