OREANDA-NEWS. June 23, 2015. The Western world’s steelmakers have joined together to effectively tell China to back off, urging their home countries to take action against the world’s largest steelmaker.

In a joint statement by 10 mill trade associations, steelmakers in the Americas and Europe took China to task for destabilizing the global steel market.

“There is a strong consensus against the rising tide of exports from state-owned, supported or controlled steel industries,” the statement issued Tuesday read.

The Western mill groups, including the American Iron and Steel Institute, Eurofer, Alacero and the Turkish Steel Producers Association, called for immediate and effective action to address surges in steel exports stemming from steelmaking overcapacity, saying China is “looming over it all.”

But it’s not like there hasn’t been such action already.

European mills are seeking duties on cold-rolled coil imports from China, US mills have a trade case against coated sheet from China, and Turkish mills have a case against hot-rolled coil imports from China.

Mexico is eyeing a plan to protect its entire steel industry as leading producer Ahmsa says it may have to close due to the impact of Chinese imports.  Mexico recently put provisional duties on HRC from China.

The Arab Iron and Steel Union is seeking protection from imports stemming from major global suppliers with massive steelmaking overcapacity (read: China), and India recently imposed duties on stainless flats from China

And these are just the recent actions.

China exported a record high 103 million short tons of steel last year due to its overcapacity and a slowdown in its growth. The complainants this week said China’s annual steel production overcapacity has been estimated at as much as 467 million st.

For some perspective, the US – the world’s third largest steel-producing nation – has steelmaking capability of 120 million st/year and will likely produce around 90 million st this year.

So it is understandable why many of the world’s steelmakers may feel as though they have the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads when it comes to the potential for massive Chinese steel exports. In addition to its huge overcapacity, the group criticized China for its new steel policy, which, while acknowledging the overcapacity, puts the government in charge of its shrinkage, including policies that could actually add to the bulge.

The complainants said the new policy continues to reflect a “top-down, state-dominated approach to reforming the steel industry.”

OECD Steel Committee Chairman Risaburo Nezu, after a committee meeting last month, said resolving the overcapacity issue is urgent because of the emergence of a “new era of low steel demand growth and rising exports.

“Failure to address or halt market distortions will result in subsidized and state-supported enterprises surviving at the expense of private and efficient companies operating in environments with minimal government support,” he said.

The Western world’s steelmakers are also urging their respective governments to employ trade diplomacy to challenge “those government policies that are feeding the overcapacity that is at the root of the current steel crisis.”

And they are challenging China’s assertion that it should be acknowledged as a market economy by the World Trade Organization by the end of next year, saying China’s massive steelmaking overcapacity is proof that it does not have a competitive free market system.

China’s current designation as a non-market economy gives nations importing China’s steel more leeway in assessing anti-dumping duties – traditionally the best way to “level the playing field.”