Why is the US concerned about steel imports from China

The declining competitiveness of the US steel industry is undeniable. But this is due to shrinking domestic demand, rising production costs in the United States and slow technological modernization. It seems that the United States has deliberately chosen to blame China for the disasters in the American steel industry. Even before tariffs, China's exports accounted for only 2.63 percent of total U.S. steel imports in 2016.

The fact that the steel industry is no longer the main industry in the United States is the result of the evolution of its economic structure. While steel production in China has grown rapidly since 2000, primarily due to the huge demand associated with the industrialization and urbanization of China, the same as the United States experienced after World War II.

China has a complete industrial steel system and a strong competitive advantage in terms of production costs, technology, equipment and product development, which provide the basis for China's steel export advantages in the global market.

As the largest consumer of steel, China pays more attention to improving the quality of its steel products and its production technologies and efficiency, as well as reducing industrial emissions and pollution.

China exports 9 percent of steel production, while some developed countries export about 40 percent of steel production, and China's steel exports mainly find their way to Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Middle East and South America, rather than the United States. Incorrectly, perhaps deliberately, the US chose to blame China for the disaster in the American steel industry. Last year, only 1.57 percent of China's steel exports were to the United States.

The three largest steel exporters to the United States are Canada, Brazil and the Republic of Korea, which accounted for 41.85 percent of US steel imports in 2016, followed by Mexico and Turkey (as over 2 million tonnes), Japan, Russia and Germany (more than 1 million tonnes), while China's exports (789,100 tonnes) accounted for only 2.63 percent of total US steel imports in 2016.

Although the US increased steel production last year, steel imports continued to rise 15.4 percent to 38.12 million tonnes. And steel products from China do not enter the American market due to the high tariff and protectionist actions of the US government.

It is more convenient for the US government to attribute the difficulties facing the steel industry in external factors and use anti-dumping policies to combat normal trade, which, as China points out, is more for political purposes than economic ones.

In addition, the introduction of punitive tariffs on imported products from