Trade policy

China on March 11 warned the U.S. against launching a trade war, saying that both countries would suffer if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on his threats.

The billionaire politician has repeatedly accused China of using unfair trade policies to steal jobs from the US, threatening to retaliate with massive tariffs unless Beijing changes tack.

Serbia's only steelmaker, Chinese-owned Zelezara Smederevo, will not be affect by the European Commission's anti-dumping duties on China’s steel products.

This is what the EU delegation to Serbia said on its website, in a statement entitled, "False news about anti-dumping duties."

Protectionist policies from the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump will probably have a negative impact on the economy, overshadowing any positive gains from economic stimulus measures, the head of the IMF said on Jan. 20. 

"Overall, it probably won't be net positive," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

An update in Turkey's Customs Union deal with the EU and the signing of new free trade deals with other countries will help Ankara overcome its economic slowdown in 2017, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci has said. 

Speaking at parliament during annual budget debates, Zeybekci cited both external and domestic causes of the recent decline in the value of the Turkish Lira. 

The World Trade Organization on April 7 revised its 2016 global trade forecast downward by more than one percentage point, warning that a slowdown in China and broad market volatility continued to threaten growth.

In September, the WTO estimated that global trade would rise by 3.9 percent this year, but lowered that projection to 2.8 percent, in an updated forecast.     

China's overcapacity in heavy industries is wreaking "far-reaching" damage on the global economy, with steel production "completely untethered" from market demand, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said on Feb. 22.

Turkey said it has concluded that U.S. cotton imports are damaging domestic output after a more than year-long review, dealing a potential blow to the world's No. 3 grower of natural fiber amid concerns Ankara could resort to anti-dumping duties.

The European Union will take the first step on Jan. 13 towards refashioning its trade ties with Beijing, torn over how to lower its defenses to avert Chinese retaliation while protecting key industries against a damaging flood of cheap imports. 

The U.S. Commerce Department launched a probe on Sept. 2 into alleged dumping by several foreign steel producers accused of undercutting America's domestic industry.

U.S. officials said seven nations were involved in underpricing some $2 billion worth of steel: Australia, Brazil, South Korea, the Netherlands, Britain, Japan and Turkey.

Romania and Poland will present a joint view at the Council of the European Union in support of new aid measures for the agrifood producers hit by Russia's embargo, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Daniel Constantin declared on Wednesday.