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September 12, 2016

G-20 Leaders Announce Launch Of Global Steel Forum

At the end of their meeting in China last week, leaders of the G-20, including President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, announced an agreement to create a global “forum” to analyze and address excess global excess capacity of steel. 

While the Metals Service Center Institute views the announcement as a positive one, we believe that, to be effective, the forum must be formed immediately and with a concrete agenda and action items to address the global steel and aluminum glut. 

A White House fact sheet on U.S.-China economic relations said the forum was created because “G-20 leaders recognized that excess capacity in steel and other industries is a global issue that requires a collective response.” (The fact sheet pledged that the forum will ensure that this “global problem” will be addressed through a “global solution.”) The White House fact sheet also noted that, “As the Forum prepares to launch, the United States will continue its efforts to address many of the trade-related challenges in the global steel industry,” including “enforcing 160 anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on steel and steel-related products, tracking U.S. and global steel trade flows, working to address evasion of anti-dumping and countervailing duties and upholding U.S. rights under trade agreements.” 

The forum is expected to report its findings to the members of the G-20 in 2017. 

The White House fact sheet also addressed currency manipulation. It said, “G-20 leaders reaffirmed their commitments to refrain from competitive devaluations and not target exchange rates for competitive purposes.” 

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