Florian Beyer 
Explaining Growth in China 
Consequences of Steel Tariffs on the Chinese Steel Industry

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Economics – Industrial Economics, grade: 1, 0, The FOM University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, language: English, abstract: What are the consequences of steel tariffs on the Chinese steel industry and its development? Coping with this question a deeper look at the Chinese steel industry is needed.

First, this paper will outline the history and examine statistics dealing with the global steel market in order to center the growth and structure of the Chinese steel industry. The second part of this paper highlights tariffs, their function and influence on the market in general and especially on the Chinese steel industry. Finally, derived from previously examined facts, the tariffs’ consequences on the industry are discussed concluding with a future outlook.

Since 2014, China is the second largest economy in the world, following the United States of America, comparing the countries’ gross domestic products. China’s steel industry dominates the global steel market, taking nearly half of the world’s production into account. In 2015, the country is the biggest exporter of semi-finished and finished steel products. Latest developments show a lowering and stagnating overall growth in China. This forces higher steel exports and puts pressure on the global steel price, leading to clamours for taxing Chinese steel imports in other countries. The U.S. and European Union (EU) among other countries have already confined tariffs on Chinese steel, aiming to protect their local steel industry.