Following a series of World Trade Organisation (WTO) meetings (Committee on Safeguards, Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and Committee on Anti-dumping Practices) during the week of 25-29 April 2016, it was reported that problems in the global steel sector were prompting governments to increase their use of trade remedy measures to protect their domestic producers. Several members expressed the belief that the overcapacity in the steel sector and the resulting distortions in steel trade were triggering an increase in the initiation of safeguard and anti-dumping investigations on steel products. According to a member, 41 new anti-dumping investigations targeting steel imports were triggered in 2015 compared to 23 in 2012 and 2013. The same member cited serious concerns with the growing number of safeguard measures targeting steel imports over recent years.
Concerns were also expressed about the absence of information regarding government subsidy programmes in general as well as subsidy programmes provided to steel producers. Many members observed that compliance with the obligation to notify specific subsidies was low and declining, and that this was a major systemic problem for the operation of the subsidies agreement.