China blasts U.S. probe into steel imports

BEIJING, May 22 (UPI) — China’s Ministry of Commerce blasted the United States’ investigation into some carbon and alloy steel imports from 12 countries, including China.

The country called the anti-dumping and duty investigations “imprudent” and said it was only protecting the interests of American steel companies.

“The United States has recently taken a series of trade remedy measures against steel exports from other countries and regions. Such acts are imprudent and cannot help U.S. steel businesses solve their problems,” the ministry said in a statement Saturday.

“After more than three decades of protection and subsidies, the United States has distorted competition in its domestic steel market, deprived local companies of motivation to increase investment or improve technology and subsequently blunted their competitive edge,” it said.

The U.S. said in a preliminary ruling that certain steel cut-to-length plates had substantially harmed the U.S. steel industry.

The U.S. Commerce Department set final anti-dumping duties of 265.79 percent and anti-subsidy duties of 256.44 percent on imports of cold-rolled flat steel from China.

China encouraged its companies to cooperate with U.S. investigations.

The Chinese government said only 6 percent of all imports of this type of steel came from China last year.

U.S. and European steel producers claim China is disrupting the global market and dumping its excess supply abroad.

The U.S. steel industry claims that some 12,000 workers have been laid off in the past year because of unfair Chinese competition. But China says the weak economy is more to blame.

China is not the only culprit.

The Commerce Department also levied anti-dumping duties of 71 percent on Japanese-made cold-rolled steel.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has accused Beijing of “rape” in trade.

He said he would fight the US trade deficit with China.

The Global Times, China’s state tabloid, called Trump’s ideas of foreign policy “hollow, nationalistic and inconsistent.”