I'm not sure whether that's still the case today. It probably is variable by product.
But the fascists running China will make sure that Chinese steel is up to standard in the future, even if they have to shoot a few people to force some action.
Why should they change? They seem to be selling everything they make to WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. and they have no liability. I looked at some galvanized lag screws last night that were so bad, I picked through the whole bin to find the best ones. I still bought a larger size because I figured the strength was suspect.
I also found out that the compression fittings for copper pipe have been redesigned to a much thinner wall thickness. I went to a real hardware store later and found they had old and new stock in the same bin. You could easily pick out the new stuff. You could distinguish the old from the new by weight alone. The wall thickness on the new stuff looks like it's barely thick enough to cover the root diameter of the thread. Those fittings if they don't crack after first being installed are bound to crack sometime afterwards and start a leak that if not caught will rot out someones particle board underlayment in their megabuck house.
Someone saved a few cents that will result in homeowners spending thousands to rip up floors, remove fixtures, and cleanup mold. Once the whole mess is fixed, the new fitting will crack just like the one that did before.
It's the new American corporate standard. Redesign it to reduce the cost even if it can't do the job like the old design did.
Most go for the penny savings not understanding it can end up costing someone thousands of dollars, not pennys. FU America. We're cutting our costs, getting our bonuses and screwing you at the same time. Most Americans have no clue.
Too many go for the poisoned bait of cheap stuff. I think the Chinese cars are going to hot sellers because of the cheap price alone. When it craps out a few months later. The owner will be glad they took advantage of the twofer offer at Walmart. That way they'll have a spare car and still pay much less that what Detroit wants for one of their plastic abominations.
I wouldn't want to own stock in a plastics company once Detroit goes belly up.