Obama to press the case against excess steel capacity at G-20 - Lew

US president Barack Obama is set to press foreign leaders to take action against excess steel capacity at the G-20 Leaders' Summit in China next week, says US Treasury secretary Jack Lew.

"The President will press for action on excess capacity, most notably in the steel industry," said Lew in in a speech to the Brookings Institution ahead of the summit in Hangzhou, China.

He said excess steel capacity distorted the market and the environment, harmed workers, and ran counter to efforts to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth, MarketWatch reported.

"He (Obama) will also press for fiscal measures both to smooth the transition and increase short term demand," Lew said in his speech.

The issue of China's steel production is scarcely a new one; US and European leaders have been alleging that the nation is dumping the product onto world markets.

China has pledged to reduce steel output but, the pace of this has drawn criticism. Moreover, other countries, among them India and Italy, have been accused of supporting a steel glut.

Obama's action coincides with a presidential race where several swing states are major steel producers, among them Pennsylvania and Ohio. Steel dumping has drawn the attentions of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.