China to tax steel exports to curb energy usage, trade imbalance

China to tax steel exports to curb energy usage, trade imbalance China’s Ministry of Finance said Monday it would levy a 5 percent to 10 percent tax on exports of the same 83 types of finished steel for which a value added tax rebate was recently abolished, the Steel Business Briefing reported.
   The tax will take effect for Customs clearances after June 1, the ministry said.
   According to the report from SBB, export taxes for coke, iron and ferro-alloys have also risen.
   'China’s government has recently intensified its efforts to curb exports of energy intensive products, in a bid to reduce its use of natural resources,' the story said. 'The Ministry of Finance points to this, as well as widening trade imbalances, as the motivation behind the export tax. The move comes as U.S. officials prepare to meet their Beijing counterparts in Washington in a 'strategic economic dialogue.' Concern over growing Chinese exports will be one of the issues for discussion, as SBB has been reporting. The president of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals, CCCMC, Chen Haoran was recently in Washington speaking to officials.'