Given that Beijing and Washington have agreed that steel overcapacity is a global problem which requires a global solution, China's efforts to cut steel overcapacity, a requirement of its domestic supply-side reform that could also reduce trade frictions, should be appreciated by the United States and the European Union.

In April, US President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum asking the Department of Commerce to launch an investigation to determine whether foreign imports of steel compromise US national security. And in August, senior executives from 25 US steel and steel-related companies wrote a letter to Trump, saying the industry is suffering the consequences of government inaction as the Commerce Department probe languishes and imports surge back to previous levels, and asked him to set a limit on iron and steel imports, and impose more tariffs on such imports.

The US is the world's largest importer of iron and steel products. On the other hand, thanks to the rapid development of its iron and steel industry over the past decades, China has become the largest producer and exporter of iron and steel products. But that doesn't mean Chinese exports are the root cause of the US iron and steel industry's problems.