China Extends Anti-Dumping Duties on Stainless Steel Imports
Udumbara
China has extended anti-dumping duties on stainless steel products for a number of countries, amid tensions with its major trading partners triggered by their complaints about the regime’s unfair trade policies.
Countries on the list unveiled by the commerce ministry on June 30 include the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Indonesia. The duties, which range from 20.2 percent to 103.1 percent, target stainless steel billets and hot rolled stainless steel plates. The tariff extensions last for five more years, beginning on July 1.
The regime’s commerce ministry claimed that without these protectionist measures in place, its stainless steel industries will continue to sustain damage caused by dumping.
Stainless steel billets and hot rolled steel plates can either be used as a raw material after processing, or sold directly as the final product. It is used across a wide array of industries spanning ship making, containers, railways, electricity, petroleum, and petrochemicals.
The ministry imposed anti-dumping duties ranging from 18.1 percent to 103.1 percent on affected imports, for a five year period. Japan complained about the move and took the case to the WTO, which issued a report ruling against China’s duties in 2023, finding they violated WTO rules.
In the latest extension of the duties, Japan is not included on the list. Appearance of the UK on the list is due to its separate classification from the EU, as a result of Brexit in 2020.
The regime’s decision comes as its trading partners are increasingly worried about a flood of inexpensive steel from China.
For decades, China has overwhelmed the global market with cheap, heavily subsidized exports, putting producers in the United States and other countries at a significant disadvantage.
China is, by far, the world’s largest producer of steel, with nearly 1 billion metric tons of crude steel produced in 2024. Over the past two decades, China’s share of global steel production has seen a dramatic rise, jumping to 53 percent from 23 percent. This shift has led to a pricing imbalance, with China’s steel dominating the market and pushing prices lower across the globe.
China also plays a leading role in aluminum production. Over the past 20 years, China’s share of global aluminum production has skyrocketed to 58 percent from just 8 percent.
“This isn’t unique to us,” Verster said. “Because of several factors, one of them being China’s actions, most of the world’s steel producers are now loss-making enterprises.”
In the United States, President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum during his first term. He later granted exemptions to several trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, but he kept the tariffs in place for China.
However, some Chinese companies have circumvented these tariffs through transshipments—routing goods through other countries.
