China and the US remained at odds on Thursday over how to combat excess capacity in the global steel sector, trading barbs at the conclusion of a ministerial level G20 industry summit in Berlin.
Representatives of G20 member states at the ‘Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity’ said they had at least agreed on the need for dismantling market distorting subsidies, restructuring the sector, ensuring a level playing field and increasing transparency on capacity cuts.
But China and the US remained far apart on many matters, with Beijing insisting it had done its bit to tackle the overcapacity problem while Washington said it would continue to protect its borders from what it sees as unfairly traded steel.
Assistant Chinese Commerce Minister Li Chenggang warned against a situation where his country makes painful efforts to cut capacity “while the rest of the world just watches”.
China, which produces and consumes half the world’s steel, has cut some 100 million tonnes of legal capacity and another 120 million tonnes of illegal capacity since January 2016.
