BEIJING: China\u2019s Commerce Ministry said on Friday it \u201cregrets\u201d the European Commission\u2019s decision to put anti-dumping duties on Chinese cold-rolled steel plates, the latest spat between the trade partners battling a global steel glut.
\nChina\u2019s steel industry, a major employer, has struggled to meet targets to reduce its overcapacity, and rising prices for steel have encouraged firms to ramp up production for export.
\nRival producers have accused China of selling into export markets at below cost after a slowdown in demand at home, forcing job cuts and plant closures elsewhere amid a deepening global crisis in the industry.
\nThe European Commission said on Friday that it would levy retroactive anti-dumping duties on imports of certain cold rolled steel products from China and Russia after a year-long investigation triggered by a claim from European steel lobbying group Eurofer.
\n\u201cIn the wake of the global steel overcapacity crisis, the Commission is applying the trade defence instruments to re-establish a level-playing field between EU and foreign producers,\u201d its said in an emailed statement.
\nThe duties of between 19.7 percent and 22.1 percent on Chinese firms Angang Group and Shougang Group would weaken the European Union\u2019s downstream manufacturing competitiveness, China\u2019s Commerce Ministry said in a statement on its website.
\n\u201cThis move amplifies legal uncertainty and gravely affects normal international trade,\u201d the ministry said.
\nIt called on the EU to \u201cavoid abusing trade remedies and sending a wrong signal\u201d to the world, and added that it was willing to work with the EU to appropriately handle current problems facing the steel industry.
\nChina is by far the world\u2019s biggest steel producer and its annual output is almost double that of the 28-nation EU.
\nThe EU duties on cold-rolled steel, used in the construction and the automotive industries, will last for five years and be applied to products registered two months before they were initially adopted on Feb. 12, the commission said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING: China\u2019s Commerce Ministry said on Friday it \u201cregrets\u201d the European Commission\u2019s decision to put anti-dumping duties on Chinese cold-rolled steel plates, the latest spat between the trade partners battling a global steel glut. China\u2019s steel industry, a major employer, has struggled to meet targets to reduce its overcapacity, and rising prices for steel have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n