Biden seeks to level economic playing field with China, promises to protect U.S. Steel [Video]

April 17 (UPI) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he does not want conflict with China, but fair competition as he seeks to level the economic playing field with the Asian nation, while hinting his administration would prevent the acquisition of U.S. Steel by a Japanese company.

Speaking before union members at the United Steelworkers Headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pa., Biden accused China of overproducing steel that it then dumps on the global markets at low prices, to the detriment of the United States.

Biden called it “cheating,” stating that between 2000 and 2010 when Chinese steel began entering the market, it cost 14,000 steel and iron workers their jobs, which the president promised would not happen under his watch.

The president said he sent a delegation to Mexico to speak with its president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, to stop China from sending steel into the United States by concealing it through its southern neighbor.

He …