The members of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity – more than two dozen economies that together account for more than half of global steel imports – recently pledged to take further action against global excess steel production capacity.
Asserting that “the global steel industry is in a crisis due to challenges resulting from persistent excess capacity and production that are driven principally by non-market policies and practices that originate outside the GFSEC membership,” the member countries announced a comprehensive framework for joint action that includes the following measures they intend to take (although “the level of ambition” of specific actions taken may vary among members).
Trade data – examining opportunities to develop or enhance public steel import monitoring systems, exchanging trade and other relevant data to identify suspicious patterns of trade involving steel products originating from non-members, and helping develop or improve monitoring systems
Trade remedies – addressing the market distortive effects of steel excess capacity by (1) undertaking antidumping duty, countervailing duty, and global safeguard investigations, including possible self-initiation, (2) applying other trade measures on imports of steel and derivative products containing steel from sources of global excess capacity, (3) coordinating to detect and address circumvention of trade measures in the steel sector, and (4) collaborating on each other’s trade actions that address market-distorting government support measures, including by monitoring trade diversion and considering appropriate responses
Export restrictions – assessing the extent to which non-members are imposing export restrictions on steelmaking raw materials, analyzing their impact on excess capacity, and considering whether to take measures in response
Subsidies – reducing and eliminating market-distorting subsidies and other support measures by government or government-related entities that contribute to persistent global excess
capacity in the steel sector
Other – considering how to assess the impact on steel excess capacity of weak regulation and enforcement that unfairly lower production costs, with a view to determining whether future action may be appropriate
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