World Leaders Pissed Off at China For Oversupplying Market with Steel

One of the tenets of Donald Trump’s candidacy is to favor U.S. steel producers and to protect their markets via tariffs. This, of course, is common sense. Globally, leaders are pissed off at China for flooding markets with their cheap, fucking, steel. However, China is simply blowing them off, declaring that the real issue has to do with demand and not supply.

What? Does that make any fucking sense at all?

“We recognize that the structural problems, including excess capacity in some industries, exacerbated by a weak global economic recovery and depressed market demand, have caused a negative impact on trade and workers,” G-20 leaders will say, according to the communique. “We recognize that excess capacity in steel and other industries is a global issue which requires collective responses.”

China has said the steel issue is one of demand rather than supply. Cutting overcapacity requires global action, China Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said Friday at a briefing in Hangzhou. Fewer accusations and more cooperation on the matter would benefit the global economy, Zhu said, adding China had been first among the major economies to take action in reducing overcapacity.

“There are concerns on specific issues like steel production, which today is excessive,” said Brazil’s Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles. “That will be a theme,” he said in reference to discussions at the G-20 summit.

The global flood of Chinese steel is stoking trade tensionswith nations from India to Europe, and U.S. lawmakers have asked President Barack Obama to raise the issue with his hosts at the G-20. President Xi Jinping has ordered as much as 150 million metric tons, or about 13 percent, of annual capacity to shut by 2020 as part of the Communist Party’s plans to address industrial overcapacity amid slowing demand for basic materials. China makes about half of the world’s steel.

Earlier this year, a group of 25 nations, including the U.S., said they were unable to persuade China to take greater accountability for the overcapacity in steel production. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for U.S. president, vowed that if he is elected, his administration would ensure “American steel for American infrastructure” in a June speech outside of Pittsburgh.

The draft communique warns that financial market volatility is a downside risk to growth, and says G-20 members will use all tools available to boost their economies. Monetary policy alone cannot spur balanced growth, the statement says, another nod to the potential need for greater fiscal action on the part of governments.

“We reaffirm our previous exchange rate commitments, including that we will refrain from competitive devaluations and we will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes,” according to the draft.

This year could be the lowest growth year since the global financial crisis, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde separately told business leaders earlier Saturday at a panel in Hangzhou.

“So while the recovery’s under way, it’s not moving very fast, and it’s only moving because of one critical tool being used by central banks and that is monetary policy,” she said. “Growth in 2016 and possibly in 2017 is yet again going to be a year of growth below 3.5 percent. Way below that.”

Okay, the ‘recovery’ has been underway since 2009. Are these people fucking nuts? I love how they keep making excuses for their failed policies by saying ‘the recovery is under way.’ The world wants less steel from China. The Chinese leaders want an OPEC like structure to control and rig the fucking markets.

As you were.