China on Saturday announced that it will impose a 14.4 to 46.3 percent tax on a "special type of hi-tech steel" imported from Britain and rest of the European Union.

China's Ministry of Commerce said it is slapping anti-dumping tariffs on steel imports from EU, Japan and South Korea. According to the ministry, China's steel industry is suffering due to unfair trade practices followed by these respective countries.          

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The decision was met with sharp reactions across the U.K., which is already reeling under a nation-wide steel crisis that is likely to result in job cuts for 15,000 - 20,000 local steel workers. 

Trade analysts in the U.K. said China's latest anti-dumping tariffs is going to have minimal impact on Britain's local steel industry, but warned that it may escalate into trade a war between the two countries.

"If this is not a trade war, I don't know what is," Gareth Stace, Director of UK Steel, said to a local newspaper.              

Meanwhile, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington at the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit. According to sources, Cameron has requested that Xi slows down the export of cheap Chinese steel to the U.K.   

Major steel companies in the U.K. blame Chinese steel companies for the excessive dumping in European markets, which is said to be the source of the current woes of the industry in U.K. and other European countries.The British Government's 'pro Chinese policy' has equally been blamed for the deplorable condition of the country's steel industry.

In the past, the British government successfully blocked the EU's decision to levy higher duties on Chinese steel imports, claiming that such a move will lead to a sharp rise in the prices of steel products.

However, the British government's decision to shield Chinese steel imports from higher tariffs has come under stern criticisms from politicians and analysts, claiming that this policy has badly backfired on the local steel industry.   

TagsChinese Steel, Britain Steel Industry, Chinese Anti Dumping Tariff