China questions U.S. trade investigations into steel imports

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Thursday questioned U.S. trade investigations into imports of steel products from six countries including China, describing the measures as "excessive."

The U.S. Department of Commerce has decided to initiate anti-dumping investigations against cold-drawn steel mechanical tubing from China, Germany, India, Italy, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland. Products from China and India will also be subject to anti-subsidy investigations.

On the MOC website, Wang Hejun, head of the trade remedy and investigation bureau, responded to the decision and expressed concerns over rising protectionism from the world's largest economy.

The frequent trade remedies and restrictive measures have attracted the attention of the World Trade Organization, Wang said.

"Under excessive protective policies, U.S. steel plants lack the motivation to make adjustments and are losing their global competitiveness. Trade partners will be harmed, and problems in the U.S. steel sector will still remain," Wang said.

The United States should handle the case in a cautious and fair manner and create a stable and predictable environment for international cooperation in the steel sector, he said.

In the face of overcapacity, the Chinese government has continued to downsized glutted steel and coal sectors.

China has phased out 31.7 million tonnes of steel capacity and 68.97 million tonnes of coal capacity to date, about 63.4 percent and 46 percent of the annual targets respectively, according to a statement following a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday. Endi