This Morning in Metals: ArcelorMittal CEO Wants E.U. to do More to Combat U.S. Tariffs

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This morning in metals news, ArcelorMittal’s CEO urged the E.U. to do more to combat the effects of the U.S.’s Section 232 steel tariff, April steel shipments fell 1.4% and China’s Ministry of Commerce said the U.S. is not being taken advantage of on trade.
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ArcelorMittal Urges More Action from E.U. on Steel

The E.U. imposed steel safeguards earlier this year, but ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal think they haven’t been enough.
The safeguards were imposed to combat rising imports into the E.U., which came about as a result of diverted supply from the U.S. (on the heels of its Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum).
However, Mittal told a German newspaper the safeguards haven’t been effective, Reuters reported.

U.S. Steel Shipments Fall 1.4%

U.S. steel shipments in April fell 1.4% from the previous month, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
April shipments reached 8.21 million net tons, down from 8.33 million net tons in March. However, shipments through the first four months of the year were up 3.5% compared with the same period last year.

MOFCOM: China Not Taking Advantage of the U.S.

A frequent talking point used by President Donald Trump is the concept that other countries are taking advantage of the U.S. when it comes to trade.
China’s Ministry of Commerce recently released a report, titled “US Gains from the China-US Trade and Economic Cooperation,” outlining the ways in which it argues the U.S. benefits from the two countries’ trade relationship.
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“The trade deficit with China results from both artificially-imposed restrictions, such as export control, and market forces,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a release. “Multiple factors are at play, including industrial competitiveness, economic structure, trade policies, the position of the US dollar as reserve currency, etc. The US has not been taken advantage of.”

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