Although not long ago, China and Europe agreed to seek a common solution to the issue of steel trade, the EU did not seem to be fully committed to it. In July 29th, the European Commission made an anti-dumping investigation final decision on the rebar products originating in China, and decided to implement anti-dumping measures with a tax rate of 18.4%~22.5%. The steel trade dispute, which was expected to be quiet, broke out again.

The head of the trade relief Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of China said in a statement that the European Commission adopted the practice of raising the profit rate of the EU industrial target in this case, which is essentially artificial setting obstacles, excluding Chinese products, and providing unreasonable protection to the EU industry.

The official said frankly, the current global steel production and operation is generally faced with difficulties. As a low-end steel products, rebar has a higher profit rate. The Committee of the European Commission, in accordance with the European Union's industrial requirements, lacks a reasonable basis for improving the profit rate of industrial targets. The purpose is to improve the anti dumping rate of Chinese enterprises.

Public information shows that since 2014, the EU launched a total of 15 trade relief investigations on Chinese products, including 8 steel products, more than half of them.

In fact, the product of the anti-dumping investigation - Chinese screw steel is mainly to meet the demand of the UK and Ireland, and does not have any impact on the EU industry, but also helps to promote infrastructure construction in the period of economic recovery.

The G20 Conference on trade ministers, which closed in Shanghai recently, reaffirmed its previous commitment to the maintenance of the status quo and the revocation of existing protectionist measures and extended its commitment until the end of 2018.

It can only be said that the decision of the European Union regrets the Chinese government and enterprises. The EU should abide by the commitments made in the International Conference and avoid sending wrong signals to the outside world.

It should be seen that the weakness of the global economic recovery and the resulting lack of demand are the fundamental reasons for the difficulties faced by the iron and steel industry in all countries. The implementation of trade protection measures will not help to solve the problem. On the contrary, it will have a further impact on the normal trade order and the economic development of the EU and the member countries.

As early as April this year, Zhang Ji, Assistant Minister of Commerce in China, used Belgium's image analogy to explain the essence of the current global steel trade problem. He said that steel is the "grain" of industry and the "grain" of economic development. After the outbreak of the international financial crisis, the main problem is that the party eating "grain" is "sick", "bad appetite", and it appears that "grain" is surplus. The parties should study the situation in depth, analyze the cause and effect objectively, increase trust and explain the question, and recognize the fundamental cause of the overcapacity in steel and other industries at present.

It can be said that the Chinese government is committed to solving the problem of overcapacity in the world. Trade protectionism can never truly transform the do into silk, and the European Union and the global related economies are only a good recipe for a sustained effort from the supply side and the demand side.