- Steel stocks (SLX +2.1%) are higher as U.S. Treasury Secretary Lew blames China for flooding low-cost steel into the U.S. and other markets.
- Lew is urging China to cut excess steel production, as the two countries open high-level talks overshadowed by tension over the South China Sea.
- "The Chinese government is... engaged in economic warfare against the U.S. and sadly, they are winning,” Nucor (NUE +0.3%) CEO John Ferriola says in a WSJ interview, adding that China two months ago set a new production record after spending two years promising to cut production.
- Steel producers are mostly higher: X +2.9%, MT +2.1%, CLF +2.8%, AKS -1%, STLD +0.3%, RS +0.4%.