Although China and Europe recently agreed to seek a common solution to the steel trade issue, it seems that the EU has not fully kept its promise. On July 29th, the European Commission made a final ruling on anti-dumping investigations into threaded steel products originating in China, and decided to implement anti-dumping measures with tax rates ranging from 18.4% to 22.5%. The steel trade dispute, which was originally expected to calm down, is now engulfed in smoke The head of the Trade Remedy Investigation Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated in a statement that the European Commission's practice of raising the target profit margin for EU industries in this case is essentially artificially setting barriers, excluding Chinese products, and providing unreasonable protection for EU industries The person in charge bluntly stated that the global steel industry is currently facing difficulties in production and operation, and rebar, as a low-end steel product, is difficult to have a high industry profit margin. The European Commission's approach of significantly increasing industry target profit margins in accordance with EU industry requirements lacks reasonable basis, with the aim of raising anti-dumping tax rates on Chinese companies Public information shows that since 2014, the European Union has initiated a total of 15 trade remedy investigations against Chinese products, including 8 cases of steel products, accounting for more than half In fact, the product involved in this anti-dumping investigation - Chinese rebar - mainly meets the market demand of the UK and Ireland, has not caused any impact on the EU industry, and is conducive to promoting infrastructure construction in the local area during the economic recovery period The recently concluded G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Shanghai reiterated previous commitments to maintain the status quo and revoke existing protectionist measures, and extended the commitment until the end of 2018

It can only be said that the EU's decision has caused regret for the Chinese government and businesses. The EU should abide by its commitments made at international conferences and avoid sending wrong signals to the outside world It should be noted that the weak global economic recovery and the resulting sluggish demand are the fundamental reasons for the difficulties faced by the steel industry in various countries. Implementing trade protection measures does not help solve the problem, but instead will further impact the normal trade order and be detrimental to the economic development of the European Union and its member states As early as April this year, Zhang Ji, Assistant Minister of Commerce of China, used vivid metaphors in Belgium to explain the essence of the current global steel trade issues. He said that steel is the "food" of industry and the "food" of economic development. After the outbreak of the international financial crisis, the main problem now is that the side that eats "food" is "sick" and "has a bad appetite", appearing to have an excess of "food". All parties need to deeply analyze the situation, objectively analyze the causes and effects, increase trust and dispel doubts, and recognize that the shrinking global demand and economic downturn are the fundamental reasons for overcapacity in the steel and other industries This statement can be said to be the stance of the Chinese government in addressing the issue of global steel overcapacity. Trade protectionism can never truly turn hostility into friendship. The EU and relevant global economies can only continue to exert comprehensive measures from both the supply and demand sides, which is a good solution