BEIJINGSINGAPORE, April 19 Reuters U.S. President Joe Biden39;s push to triple tariffs on Chinese steel imports strikes a mostly symbolic blow on an industry facing bigger concerns over faltering local demand and threats of even stronger blowback against China39;s surging exports.

Steel consumption in the world39;s secondlargest economy is poised to shrink again this year as a protracted property crisis has yet to find bottom and as infrastructure demand growth slows after 12 indebted regions were ordered to halt certain projects.

The statebacked China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute MPI forecasts a 1.7 drop in China39;s steel demand this year, following a 3.3 decline in 2023.

While China39;s steel exports last year climbed more than a third to their highest since 2016 at 90.26 million metric tons, about 9 of its total crude steel output, just 598,000 tons of the shipments went to the United States. That was down 8.2 from volumes shipped to the U.S. the previous year and less than 1 of total Chinese steel exports worth 85 billion in 2023.

China, the world39;s biggest producer and exporter of steel, is just the seventhlargest shipper of steel to the U.S., softening the blow of Biden39;s proposal to raise to 25 the tariffs imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump on certain steel and aluminium products.

We do not think there will be any big impact as the main destinations for China39;s steel exports are Japan, South Korea, and Middle East…