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Chinese dumping of steel isn't a problem in the slightest. In 2017, the last full year before the Trump tariffs, the volume of Chinese steel importiwas so low I can't even find statistics for it; it was outside the top ten, lower than countries like Turkey and Taiwan that no one seems too concerned about. I imagine that the number is even lower now. We currently only import about a quarter of our steel the number one supplier being Canada by far, and number two being Mexico, neither of whom are subject to tariffs.
Weird considering China produces 12.5 times as much steel as the U.S. and 60% of the world total. I have to imagine that would impact global prices. But I'll accept that perhaps China isn't dumping steel to the U.S. specifically, just pretty much every other industrial product.
We import about 3 times as much from China as we export.
China doesn't export raw/barely processed materials (like steel) but finished goods. Chinese steel is turned into cars, ships, airplanes, buildings, tools etc.
The Chinese government is directing economic expansion in new directions, now that physical infrastructure's mostly been built out cheaply. Local steel demand is falling a bit as things rearrange themselves, leading to an increase in Chinese steel exports (to Africa etc.) but it's not even 10% of production. Indeed, exports make up less than 20% of the Chinese economy overall.
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