Embassy rebuts Canada steel-dump charges

China is a victim of trade protectionism, according to a Chinese Embassy spokesman, not a bad actor on steel exports, as alleged by the Canadian government.

In a statement released by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office on Tuesday morning, Trudeau said the government is bringing forward new regulations to "crack down on countries like China that dump their steel and aluminum in foreign markets at unfairly cheap prices", adding that he wants to "work with the US to prevent dumping by China that could threaten North American jobs."

Canada was among the six countries that secured exemptions from US President Donald Trump's recent tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

"Canada is a trading nation, and we will not allow North American industries to be hurt or threatened by unfair trade practices, like the diversion of steel and aluminum," Trudeau said in the statement. "Canada will not be used as a back door into other North American markets."

Embassy spokesman Yang Yundong said that after being granted relief from the US sanction, Canada "turns guns on China", saying that "China is a problem" and immediate action must be taken to prevent it from "dumping" steel into the Canadian market, and from using Canada as a "back door" to bring Chinese steel into America.

"We understand Canada's pressing feelings to avoid the US trade sanctions, but it is not right to drop stones on someone who has fallen into a well, or even push others to the front as a bullet shield," Yang said.

According to Statistics Canada, Canada imported $9.55 billion in steel from around the world in 2017, about $940 million of which was imported from China, accounting for 9.8 percent of the total.

About $5.58 billion in steel products were imported from the US, making up 58.4 percent of the total.

Canadian statistics also show that China's steel exports to Canada decreased significantly in 2015 and 2016, and started picking up only in 2017.

"Canadian media said Canada's steel exports to the US account for 17 percent of US steel imports every year, ranking the most," Yang said. "If 9.8 percent is dumping, what is 58.4 percent or 17 percent?"