An employee unloads steel products at a market in Yichang, Hubei Province, China, April 11, 2016. REUTERS/China Daily

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China must take “timely and concrete actions” to reduce excess production and capacity in its steel industry or face possible trade action from other countries, U.S. officials said on Monday.

The warning followed failure to agree measures to tackle a global steel crisis during a meeting on Monday in Brussels of ministers and trade officials from over 30 countries, hosted by Belgium and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“Unless China starts to take timely and concrete actions to reduce its excess production and capacity in industries including steel ... the fundamental structural problems in the industry will remain and affected governments – including the United States – will have no alternatives other than trade action to avoid harm to their domestic industries and workers,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement.