Global News: Europe Will Keep Penalties On Chinese Stainless Steel Fittings

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• As Reuters reported, the European Commission will continue anti-dumping tariffs on stainless steel fittings from China and Taiwan for five years and now will also penalize products from Malaysia. The commission concluded removing the tariffs would have led to continued dumping in the European Union market worth approximately $111 million per year. The penalties, which apply to stainless steel tubes and pipe fittings and range from 5.1 percent to 12.1 percent for Taiwan and 30.7 percent to 64.9 percent for China, have been in place since 2017. The new tariffs for products from Malaysia will be 64.9 percent.
• The World Trade Organization (WTO) said it now expects global trade in goods will expand by 1.7 percent in 2023, an improvement from the one percent growth forecast the WTO issued in October 2022. One of the primary reasons for the more positive outlook is that China continues to relax its COVID-19 pandemic prevention measures, which should lead to an increase in consumer demand that promotes international trade growth. Read the full report here.