Recently, high-level representatives from governments around the world, along with representatives from the global steel industry, met in Brussels to address the severe overcapacity crisis afflicting the steel industry. The âHigh Level Meeting on Excess Capacity and Structural Adjustment in the Steel Sectorâ? was organized by the OECD and hosted by the Kingdom of Belgium. As a result of that meeting, the governments of Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States issued a significant statement noting two relevant issues. First, the âchallenges facing the steel industry, have an important global dimension that needs to be address through ongoing international dialogueâ?; and, second, that âwhile the challenges facing the industry arise from many factors, such as structural and cyclical economic developments, government support measures have contributed to significant excess capacity, unfair trade, and distortions in steel trade flows.â?
Steel producers from around the world welcomed this statement as an important step toward addressing the global steel excess capacity crisis. The steel associations recognized that the Brussels meetings were one step in the right direction, and urged the Chinese government to âconstructively participate in future discussions at the OECD and elsewhere to address the global steel overcapacity crisis.â?
