The ongoing problem of overcapacity in China’s production continues to attract attention from various countries. As global resistance to Chinese product dumping increases, Japan and South Korea have become the latest countries planning to take anti-dumping measures against Chinese steel products.
According to Bloomberg, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is seeking to expand the scope of anti-dumping duties to cover Chinese steel and other products entering Japan via third countries. The ministry is considering contacting the Ministry of Finance by the end of this month, at which point all government agencies will request tariff revisions for the next fiscal year. Japan’s largest steel manufacturer, Nippon Steel Corp., is lobbying the government along with other domestic companies to take action against Chinese imports of construction metals.
Meanwhile, in a report from Nikkei News, Japan currently only uses tariffs to restrict products from specific countries of origin, not including materials or components shipped from these places and processed elsewhere, nor slightly altered items. Japan is attempting to close these loopholes and make investigations into suspected circumvention practices easier.
Japan currently imposes anti-dumping duties on only six types of goods, including electrolytic manganese dioxide imported from China for battery manufacturing. Japan is concerned that if other countries crack down on tariff-avoidance practices, more goods may be dumped into Japan with looser controls. Therefore, the government deems it necessary to take swift action.
At the same time, South Korea announced on Thursday that it has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imported stainless steel plates manufactured in China. Korean officials stated that a local company alleged that Chinese products are being sold below market prices.
According to a report from Yonhap News Agency’s English version, the South Korean Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Resources stated that DK Corp. filed a complaint with the Korea Trade Commission in June, claiming that stainless steel plates imported into Korea from four Chinese companies were being sold below reasonable market prices.
These plates are widely used in industries such as petrochemicals, shipbuilding, and semiconductors. The commission plans to investigate products imported in 2023.
More and more countries are increasingly concerned about cheap goods from China as they can have negative impacts on domestic industries. Earlier this year, the United States announced higher tariffs on Chinese steel, and several South American countries have also imposed taxes on Chinese steel.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry stated that most member countries of the Group of 20 (G20) have taken measures to combat tariff-evasion practices. In August 2023, the United States discovered that Chinese solar cells and components were circumventing anti-dumping and other tariffs through four Southeast Asian countries.
Due to concerns about increased imports of steel and chemicals from China, more emerging markets are launching anti-dumping investigations. Brazil, Turkey, and Vietnam have initiated investigations in 2024.
Despite a continuous decline in the output of China’s steel industry, with a more than 3% decrease in production in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year, the slowdown in China’s domestic economy means that even with reduced production, there is too much metal that cannot be absorbed by the local economy, leading to a simultaneous increase of over 20% in steel exports.
The United States, Canada, and the European Union have announced increased tariffs on China this year to address what they see as Chinese overcapacity and unfair practices in industries such as electric vehicles.