Steel: China Wants Wto Rules Followed From Page 1

China's Ministry of Commerce said the US has adopted unfair practices during anti-dumping and anti-subsidies investigations on Chinese products, which severely harmed the rights of Chinese enterprises to formally defend themselves.

The ministry said that because the US refused to levy separate rates on Chinese State-owned enterprises, the companies were forced to give up on their response to the probe, which has resulted in high punitive taxes on steel products from China.

China urged the US to follow the WTO rules and correct its wrongdoings.

China blames a softening world economy for the current state of the steel market. In February, China set a goal of reducing steel production capacity by 100 million to 150 million tons in five years.

Charles Bradford, an industry analyst with Bradford Research Inc in New York, said that Chinese exports of cold-rolled flat steel to the US have been declining since last fall. "Last September the US imported 51,000 metric tons and in October it fell to 5,700 metric tons," he said. "In April the imports totaled 52 tons so the tonnage involved here is almost meaningless now."

Bradford said steel prices in China surged in February but began sliding earlier this month. "There was a big decline on May 6 and that has started to filter through to the rest of the world," he added.