BOFIT Weekly Review 2015/52
EU readies sanctions against China for steel dumping
Adding to its earlier decision this month on Chinese cold-rolled steels, the EU Commission on December 17 voted to impose a registration requirement on specific steel products used in construction, foreshadowing wider imposition of anti-dumping tariffs on disputed steel products. The decision allows for imposition of provisional duties by end-January and definitive five-year duties by end-July.
European steel producers have long complained that Chinese state enterprises and state-subsidised companies sell steel at prices below production cost. The EU complaint said that the dumping margin of Chinese steel was 15–30 % off the market price. The basic problem is that Chinese steelmakers have been stuck with massive overcapacity since its construction boom ended and have been desperate to find buyers for their steel. Western steelmakers say China currently accounts for 60 % of excess global capacity.