Global News Of Note: China Launches Investigation Into Canadian Tariffs

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:

• The Chinese government announced last week that it launched an anti-discriminatory investigation against Canada for its plan to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, along with steel and aluminum products. Read more at this link.
• As Argus reported, the European steel association Eurofer recently met with the European Commission to discuss high imports, and sources suggest the organization is lobbying for a tariff similar to the United States’ Section 232 penalties, which applied a blanket tax of 25 percent on all finished steel imports. “The commission is aware of the concerns of the sector … Any new trade defense cases are looked at on a case by case basis on their own merits,” a commission spokesperson told Argus. Meanwhile, India resolved to take retaliatory action against the European Union’s (EU) steel tariffs that have been in place since 2018 and have been extended until June 2026. Read more at this link.
• Last week, the World Steel Association reported global crude steel production fell 6.5 percent between August 2023 and August 2024, hitting144.8 million tons that month. Output in China plummeted 10.4 percent while production was down in Russia by 11.5 percent. Production in South Korea and Japan also fell. India reported a 2.6 percent increase in output and production rose 0.7 percent in the United States. In Turkey, production soared by 13.8 percent. Find more information at this link.
• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has slightly increased its global growth forecast for 2024 to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent. The OECD cited the diminishing impact of central bank rate hikes and falling inflation, which are expected to boost household incomes and spending. India, Indonesia, China, and Russia are expected to beat the global average, expanding by 6.7 percent, 5.1 percent, 4.9 percent, and 3.1 percent, respectively, this year. Read the full report at this link.