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U.S. Official Rebukes China for Excess Steel Capacity
06/06/2016 - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew criticized China on Monday for enabling the steel glut, which has driven down prices and forced steelmakers to idle mills, reports The Washington Post.
“Excess capacity has a distorting effect and damaging effect on global markets,” Lew said during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. “Implementing policies to substantially reduce production in a range of sectors suffering from overcapacity, including steel and aluminum, is critical to the function and stability of global markets.”
The dialogue, being held this week in Beijing, is an annual event that this year is occurring amid increasing trade frictions between the two countries. Usually, China and the U.S. use the opportunity to call attention to areas in which they have cooperated and advanced relations, according to The Post.
Lew’s counterpart, China finance minister Lou Jiwei, said that the country can’t order capacity cuts because more than half of its steel companies are privately owned. It only can use market-based tools to encourage capacity cuts, he said, reported the Reuters news service.
The Post has the full story here. The full Reuters story is here.
The dialogue, being held this week in Beijing, is an annual event that this year is occurring amid increasing trade frictions between the two countries. Usually, China and the U.S. use the opportunity to call attention to areas in which they have cooperated and advanced relations, according to The Post.
Lew’s counterpart, China finance minister Lou Jiwei, said that the country can’t order capacity cuts because more than half of its steel companies are privately owned. It only can use market-based tools to encourage capacity cuts, he said, reported the Reuters news service.
The Post has the full story here. The full Reuters story is here.
