BOOKS IN BRIEF — The Chinese steel connection

Iron and Steel, Relying on China, published by AME Mineral Economics, GPO Box 3602, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia. 300 pages.

After a decade of rationalization and job losses, huge new investment programs and government subsidies, most steelmakers seem to be no better off. Even worse, the industry is again on the brink of a trade war. U.S. steelmakers have filed anti-dumping claims against 21 countries, those most affected by the import bans being France, Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico. Japan has been less affected, and German mills hardly at all. China’s importance to the world steel trade was emphasized in 1992 by heavy Chinese buying during the second half of the year. With China’s imminent entry into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, import duties should fall with a corresponding increase in imports.