Beijing slams Canada on steel dumping claims

Canada should not add insult to injury to China and keep China in the gun no matter how urgent Canada hopes to avoid US trade sanctions, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Canada said on Friday, in response to Canada’s accusations that China is dumping cheap steel on global markets.

A statement on the embassy’s website quoted the spokesperson as saying that China is the victim of trade protectionism, but is insulted by some Canadians who call China a “bad offender.”

In 2017, Canada imported steel worth $9.55 billion, of which only 9.8 percent was from China, data from Canada’s national statistical agency show.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Mon- day, “We are very concerned about the actions taken by China and the dumping of steel and aluminum on the global market,” AFP reported.

Trudeau’s statement came amid rising global trade tensions following the US’ decision to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Friday that if Sino-US trade is only beneficial to China, trade and economic ties between the two countries could not have lasted this long.

“For nearly 40 years, the cooperation has provided a huge market for the two countries as well as jobs. And US trade with China has clearly reduced the average expenditure of US families,” Lu said.