BEIJING: Heavy tariffs and quotas on steel will hurt China, but other countries may well bear the brunt of such measures. The fact is that China does export a lot of steel and aluminum to the United States, but frankly, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, other countries import more steel than does China,” said Max Baucus, former U.S.ambassador to China, which is the world’s top overall steel exporter. On Friday, the Commerce Department recommended imposing heavy tariffs or quotas on foreign producers of steel and aluminum in the interest of national security, following a trade investigation of imports. The metals are used in a wide range of industrial applications including infrastructure and cars.
The U.S. is the world’s largest steel importing country. The top shipper of steel into the U.S. is Canada. Large Asian exporters and American allies that may be implicated include South Korea and Japan. China’s Commerce Ministry said the U.S. investigation report was “baseless.” Beijing will take necessary measures to protect its interests if the final decision affects the country, the ministry added. South Korea’s trade ministry said in a statement that it had met with executives from steelmakers, and agreed to make outreach efforts until Washington reaches a final decision, Reuters reported.
