Brussels is drawing up a plan to treat China as a market economy in trade disputes, but only in tandem with US-style anti-dumping duties and big cuts to steel overproduction by Beijing, Reuters reports. The European Commission is seeking a middle way between China’s clamour to be treated the same as advanced economies and complaints from European member states and industrial groups that surging imports from China are to blame for the collapse in steel prices. China says it is automatically entitled to obtain market economy status globally — one of its most coveted political goals — at the end of this year under World Trade Organisation rules. Supporters of the move, including the UK, say that awarding the status would boost investment between Europe and China.
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