[Ministry of Industry and Trade Opens Anti-Dumping Investigation on Chinese Steel Products]

This week, Zhangjiagang HRC inventory stood at 277,000 mt, down 1,000 mt WoW, a decline of 0.36%; and up 13.06% YoY.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the Trump administration could not use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose broad tariffs, the administration introduced new tariffs of 10–12.5% on 60 trading partners using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, citing concerns over forced labor regulations. It also used Section 301 to impose a 25% tariff on certain Brazilian imports and invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to threaten 50% tariffs on many Canadian goods. Additional tariffs on 16 major trading partners may follow pending Section 301 investigations into structural overcapacity. While WTO challenges remain limited due to the organization's inactive dispute settlement system, U.S. courts are expected to review whether the administration followed the required legal procedures. The tariffs continue to create uncertainty for businesses, and a study found that tariffs imposed last year increased the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) by about 0.7 percentage points by September 2025.