This article was originally published in Forbes.

Critics of the U.S. action have enumerated a number of reasons for concern, including the possibility of tit-for-tat retaliation from impacted trade partners, a further weakening of the WTO, domestic economic distortions in the U.S. as a narrow industry is protected at the expense of downstream producers, and ultimately, higher prices for consumers.

Most of these points have at least some validity, and some are entirely valid. All should be carefully weighed.

But at the same time there is another side to this coin which doesn’t receive as much attention. The simple fact of the matter is that a number of countries are undeniably engaging in unfair and even predatory trade practices in the steel and aluminum sectors which are damaging to their trade partners. State-owned enterprises that respond to government policy targets rather than economic conditions, market distorting subsidies, export “friendly” exchange rates, and a willingness to dump products have all helped to produce overcapacity, and made it easier for that excess production to spill over into other markets. It would be hard to reconcile those realities with anyone’s definition of “free” trade.

A problem that’s not going away

To put the magnitude of the overcapacity issue in perspective: experts maintain that the world needs about 400 million tons of excess steel capacity. Today, we have roughly 730 million tons. About half of that is in China, which has grown to be the world’s largest steel producer. As growth in China slowed in recent years, its overseas shipments more than doubled from 2008-2015, expanding to 112 million tons–more than the total consumed in the U.S. More recently, China has made efforts to cut its overcapacity, and both production and exports have begun to drop.

Interestingly, although some see the proposed U.S. tariffs as being directed at China, China has only about a 2% share of U.S. steel imports, and 10 other countries export more steel to the U.S. Share levels in aluminum are a bit higher, but not predominant. It would be inaccurate therefore to characterize the U.S. as being overwhelmed by Chinese exports, by any stretch of the imagination. But the size of China’s output ensures there will be significant ripple effects on global markets, irrespective of export levels to the U.S.