China is disappointed about the high duty rates that the U.S. government imposed on Chinese steel products and questioned the "unfair ways" in which the U.S. conducts anti-dumping investigations, a Chinese official said over the weekend.
The comment came after the U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday announced anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel imports, which range from 63.86 percent to 76.64 percent, as well as countervailing duties of 75.6 percent to 190.71 percent.
The U.S. has violated WTO rules by neglecting evidence from Chinese companies and has treated them unfairly on the excuse that they are State-owned enterprises, Wang Hejun, an official with China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), said in a statement posted on the ministry's website on Saturday.
In the anti-dumping investigation, U.S. department disregarded the active cooperation of the Chinese government and Chinese enterprises, Wang said.
"The Chinese government will take necessary measures to protect the rights of its enterprises."
The high U.S. tariff rates will weaken the price advantage of Chinese steel products, a move from the U.S. government to further limit steel imports from China, said Wang Guoqing, research director at the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center.
Wang, the expert, told the Global Times on Sunday that the U.S. still does not recognize China's market economy status or drop the surrogate country approach against Chinese products.
The MOFCOM and other authorities will help Chinese companies provide effective evidence and guide them to actively respond in court, she noted.
Wang from the Lange Steel forecast that "China's steel exports to the U.S. will fall in 2017 because the U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to give a hard time to China on bilateral trade."
The sluggish world economy and weak demand are the major factors behind the troubles of the domestic steel industry, the MOFCOM official said, noting that joint efforts across the globe are needed to address the challenges in the industry.
