Trump says he is considering quotas, tariffs on Chinese steel dumping

By Ayesha Rascoe

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he is considering quotas and tariffs to deal with the "big problem" of steel dumping from China and others.

"They're dumping steel and destroying our steel industry, they've been doing it for decades, and I'm stopping it. It'll stop," he told reporters on Air Force One during a flight from the United States to France.

"There are two ways: quotas and tariffs. Maybe I'll do both," he said.

Steel stocks rallied on the news, recovering some of the year-to-date declines in the sector.

The S&P 1500 steel sector index <.SPCOMSTEEL> added as much as 3 percent shortly after Trump's remarks. The index rallied nearly 40 percent in the weeks following the Nov. 8 election, but so far this year it was down 6.6 percent at Wednesday

On Thursday, the VanEck Vectors steel exchange-traded fund rose 0.6 percent after being down 1 percent before Trump's remarks. AK Steel shares gained 7.9 percent, Nucor gained 2.6 percent and US Steel added 4.0 percent.

Trump's action on steel is a part of a campaign pledge he made to help revive U.S. manufacturing. The administration's decision on steel could be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Trump also said he would invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House.

"I don't think this is the right time, but the answer is yes, I would," Trump said when asked if he would extend such an invitation to the Russian leader.

(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)