Steel Associations Outline Opposition to Chinese Market Economy Status

by Jeff Yoders on DECEMBER 8, 2015

Steelmaker trade associations banded together to tell governments how China achieving market economy status would affect them.

Also, bets on a strong oil price by hedge fund managers have reached their lowest in more than five years.

Steel Producers Tell Governments Not to Give China Market Status

The American Iron and Steel Institute, the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Canadian Steel Producers Association, CANACERO (the Mexican steel association), Alacero (the Latin American steel association), EUROFER (the European steel association), Instituto AcoBrasil (the Brazilian Steel Institute), the Turkish Steel  Producers Association and the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports conducted an educational briefing for government officials last week in Paris where they presented a unified position on the negative impact of granting China Market Economy Status (MES) in December 2016.

Presentations at the event in Paris reviewed the continued, significant role of the state in the Chinese economy, the resultant growth in Chinese steel overcapacity and the surge in Chinese steel exports to world markets in recent years. Representatives from the various regional associations detailed the negative consequences that would result from granting China MES before Chinese market-distorting policies were fully reformed.

In addition, a legal analysis was presented by Alan Price of Wiley Rein LLP demonstrating that World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries were authorized to continue applying non-market economy methodologies in anti-dumping investigations until China or Chinese producers can show that they operate under market economy conditions.

Source: Metalminer