China steel association hits back at Trump trade moves

China’s steel industry association has spoken out against protectionism in the wake of a high-profile move by Donald Trump toward limiting US imports of the metal, the Financial Times reports. The China Iron and Steel Association voiced its concerns in a statement published on its website in response to Trump’s call for a national security investigation that could lead to sweeping tariffs on steel imports – a move the US president said “has nothing to do with China.” “Even so,” the association said, “China’s steel industry holds that this broadcasts a protectionist signal to the international community and is inconsistent with the principles of fair trade.” The group added that, according to US statistics, American imports of Chinese steel totaled 789,000 tonnes in 2016, accounting for 2.6% of total import volume and, at $910m, were equivalent to 4.1% of the total value of annual US steel imports.