The Mexican state of Coahuila has asked the nation’s economy ministry to apply AD measures on steel imported from China, media reports said.
According to reports, the congress of Coahuila has reached an agreement and will send a formal request to the ministry, in which it will state a list of reasons why the Chinese imports are been so damaging for the country.
The state of Coahuila has also asked to other Mexican state congresses, such as Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Michoacán, Baja California, San Luis Potosí, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Estado de México, Puebla, Yucatán and Veracruz, to join Coahuila’s move.
AHMSA corporate communications director, Francisco Orduña, said it has talked with congress to discuss the matter, since imports from China have “grown inordinately without anyone really watching that steel continues to leave Mexico.”
According to AHMSA, the steel imports from China represent “a devastating unfair competition for the Mexican [steel] producers because countries like China and Russia, primarily, have direct and indirect subsidies that do not exist in Mexico,” such as cheap fuel, or “have fewer regulatory requirements, especially environmental costs.”
According to media reports, the competition with other countries, such as Russia and China, has already resulted in adverse effects to the nation’s steel economy. In Michoacán, ArcelorMittal has halted operations as a result of an unfair competition with Russia.