Washington, D.C. – The Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) today announced that it has joined the Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement, a coalition that was recently established to oppose China’s potential designation as a market economy at the end of 2016.
China has claimed that it should automatically be treated as a market economy in December 2016, following the 15th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. U.S. law requires that the Department of Commerce make a market economy status (MES) determination based on established criteria, which many experts agree that China has not met.
“The Chinese state continues to play a major role in several key aspects of the Chinese economy, especially in its heavily state-owned and controlled steel sector. There is no question that China remains very much a non-market economy,” said Philip K. Bell, President of the SMA.
“Through coordination with other regional steel associations, SMA has long conveyed the negative consequences of granting China MES before Chinese market-distorting policies are reformed. We are now pleased to partner with other U.S. manufacturers to raise awareness of this critical issue,” said Bell.
SMA is North America’s largest steel trade association, and the primary association for electric arc furnace steel producers. SMA’s member companies account for over seventy-five percent of total domestic steel production.