China squeezed as Northeast Asia's trade spat over galv intensifies

Friday's joint announcement by Japan's ministries of economy, trade and industry (METI) and of finance imposing provisional anti-dumping (AD) duties of up to 69% on imports of hot-dip galvanized (HDG) steel sheet and strip from South Korea and China could be a double-blow for Chinese exporters - depending on how a separate case brought by South Korea progresses.

In their preliminary determination, the Japanese ministries said they "presumed" that HDG from both Korea and China had been dumped and had negatively impacted the business of Japanese makers. The Japanese government is extending its investigation period by four months – aiming to make a final determination by December