Steel forum calls for more tariffs, fewer subsidies to fight excess capacity
SLX•Members of an OECD steel forum agreed to work toward more tariffs on steel from China and other overproducing countries and to avoid subsidies that keep loss-making mills operating. The OECD expects excess steel capacity to rise to 745 million metric tons from 601 million tons in 2025.
1. Framework targets excess capacity
The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity, whose 28 members are market-oriented economies, agreed on a framework to combat excess production. It calls for more anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard investigations that could lead to new duties, as well as other trade measures on steel and steel-containing products from sources of global excess capacity.
2. More data and trade barriers
The forum also agreed that members should share more data on steel imports, including the country where the metal was melted and poured, to help address circumvention of existing tariffs. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the framework would likely encourage countries to raise trade barriers, adding that other nations may benefit from measures like those taken by the United States.
3. China outside the forum
China, which produces more than half the world's steel, is not a forum member; neither is India, the second-largest producer and a major exporter. At a G20 finance ministers meeting earlier in September, all member economies except China agreed to act against non-market policies and trade distortions that cause over-reliance on exports.
