Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said that plans by the US to impose import tariffs of 25 percent on steel will have a limited impact on Chinese steel producers as the US is not a significant market for them.
According to Fitch, China's steel exports to the US accounted for just around one percent of its total steel exports in 2017, as most of its steel shipments went to regional markets, particularly in Southeast Asia. Contrary to market perception, steel product exports from China accounted for only 2.75 percent of total US imports of steel in 2017, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. In 2017, the US imported a total of 29.6 million mt of steel products, of which only 800,000 mt came from China.
Fitch stated that Chinese steel exports were down around 30 percent year on year in 2017 to around 75 million mt, driven by supply-side reform and domestic demand recovery, and China's steel market is expected to remain stable in 2018, and total exports to remain at 75-80 million mt.