Global News Of Note: China Calls For Reducing Steel, Aluminum Sector Emissions And Steep Capacity

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• The Chinese government has revealed a new five-year plan that calls for reducing carbon emissions from aluminum smelters by five percent by 2025 and cutting steel capacity by an unspecified amount. According to the Bloomberg, the plan also calls for: reducing energy intensity for steelmaking by two percent; closing steel mills that do not meet new standards on air pollution; reducing coal consumption in the chemical, steel and building materials sectors; and implementing staggered production in steel industry.
• Meanwhile, as The Financial Post reported, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for Western nations to work together to counter China’s unfair trade practices and human rights abuses. In an interview on global television, Trudeau said, “We’ve been competing, and China has been, from time to time, very cleverly playing us off each other in an open market, competitive way. We need to do a better job of working together and standing strong so China can’t play the angles and divide us one against the other.”
• On December 22, the European Union (EU) announced that it will place additional tariffs on Chinese aluminum foil. In its notice EU officials said Chinese companies had received trade distorting state support from the national government in the form of preferential financing, export credit insurance, grant programs, tax exemptions, and cheap energy and land. The EU duties will range from 8.6 percent to 18.2 percent, depending on the producer. Combined anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on aluminum foil from China will range from 16.1 percent to 46.7 percent, depending on the producer. Read the full notice here.
• According to Reuters, global steel output fell 10 percent from November 2020 to 143.3 tons in November 2021 due to weakness in China. Analysts said that weakness is likely to persist in coming months due to a troubled property sector. Output in the country was down 22 percent to 69.3 million tons in November.