When President Trump said he would introduce tariffs on global imports of aluminium and steel, China largely shrugged it off.

Even before the announcement, Chinese steelmakers said they were not worried about tariffs. That is because years of low exports to the US and the opening of new markets has left China relatively insulated from the immediate impact of American trade actions.

“China has only a limited number of other steel products. In comparison, other countries will suffer even greater losses,” says Li Xinchuang, vice-director at industry group China Iron and Steel Association (Cisa). The real worry is the potential knock-on effects of tariffs, manufacturers say, as Chinese steel moves elsewhere in the global market and competition intensifies in other countries.