EU opens public consultation over China trade status

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union on Wednesday launched a public consultation into whether to relax trade defences against China, as pressure mounts from the steel sector that is fiercely opposed to a move that would make it harder to impose anti-dumping duties.

The online consultation with industry, member states and trade partners is due to run for 10 weeks and sets the stage for the EU executive to make policy recommendations around July.

Europe's steel industry is bleeding jobs as prices have hit decade lows due to overcapacity, shrinking demand and a flood of cheap imports, mostly from China.

The EU's top trade official has warned China, whose exports to the EU have doubled in the past 18 months, that it will open three new anti-dumping investigations this month on steel imports from China.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; editing by Julia Fioretti and Jason Neely)