Washington and Brussels Can’t Reach an Agreement Over Steel Trade Tariffs

This spring, American President Donald Trump commissioned an analysis of the effects of steel imports on U.S. national security. The purpose of this analyzes is to determine whether imported steel impairs the country's national, economic or military security. According to the official statistic issued by the World Steel Association, China is the world's largest steel producer (49.6 percent from 1,630 million tons which was 2016 world production). The European Union produced 9.9 percent of the world production, NAFTA countries (the U.S and Canada) 6.7 percent, and Japan 6.4 percent.

Yale Fishman, adviser and senior lawyer in Yale Fishman Associates has been following the top import sources for years now. As he explains, the largest net exporter of steel is China, which last year exported 94.5 million tons more than it imported. China's total exports amounted to 108.1 million tons, which means that China’s imports are absolutely minimal.

Japan holds second place. As Yale Fishman NY adds, this country exported 34.5 million tons of steel more than it imported. Japan's total export amounted to 40.5 million tons.

Russia ranks third on the list of biggest net exporters, as it exported 26.9 million tons more than it imported last year. The total export of Russia is 31.2 million tons.

Among the largest net exporters is also Ukraine, which occupies the fourth place with 17.1 million tons, and Brazil with 11.5 million tons.

The United States leads the list of the largest net importers. Just last year, the country imported 21.7 million tons of steel more than it exported. The US imported a total of 30.9 million steel.

The world’s second importer of steel is Vietnam. This Southeast Asian country imported 17 million tons more than it exported. Thailand is the third largest importer with 16.1 million tons, Indonesia fourth with 11 million tons, and the EU is fifth with 10.5 million tons more than it exported.

According to Yale Fishman attorney, steel has been a recurring point of contention in global trade, and America has largely benefited from the globalized markets over the years. The special investigation ordered by Donald Trump would allow imposing broader tariffs and other restrictions on imports of foreign steel. The President also announced a similar investigation of aluminum imports.