Japan’s decision to launch an anti-dumping investigation into nickel-based stainless cold-rolled steel sheets and strips imported from China and Taiwan signals a growing willingness by Tokyo to shield its industrial base from global overcapacity, particularly that emanating from China, and aligns it more closely with international efforts to counter market distortions caused by Chinese steel exports.

The investigation, jointly announced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Finance, follows a petition by Nippon Steel and other Japanese steelmakers. These domestic producers argue they have been compelled to lower prices to compete with artificially cheap imports, eroding their profitability amid rising production costs.

The World Bank has sharply downgraded its global growth outlook for 2025, warning that an increasingly fragmented trade environment and persistent uncertainty—exacerbated by U.S. tariff escalation—are weighing heavily on global economic momentum. In its Global Economic Prospects report released Tuesday, the Bank cut its global GDP growth forecast to just 2.3%, down 0.4 percentage points from its prior estimate and the weakest expansion outside of a global recession since the 2008 financial crisis.

The revision reflects downgraded forecasts for nearly 70% of countries and regions, including major economies such as the United States, China, and the European Union, as well as all six major emerging market regions.

Security threats to commercial shipping in the Red Sea are intensifying rather than abating, with disruptions to maritime trade expected to persist for up to a year, according to major shipping companies. Due to heightened missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, commercial…