EU Slaps Anti-Dumping Duties on Chinese Steel Imports Angering Beijing

The European Commission imposed Thursday anti-dumping duties on Chinese hot-rolled flat steel, claiming "heavily dumped" prices gave Chinese imports an unfair edge over EU firms.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The new duties on steel range between 18.1 percent and 35.9 percent and will be in place for an initial period of five years. Hot-rolled flat steel is used in cars, energy pipelines and shipbuilding.

"These measures will shield the EU steel producers from the damaging effects of Chinese dumping," the EU’s executive arm said.

Wang Hejun, a lead investigator at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, accused the European Union of acting unfairly and irrationally and vowed to take action to protect Chinese producers.