The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has stated that it welcomes the European Commission’s (EC) three-tracked response of challenging the US Section 232 measures before the World Trade Organization (WTO), introducing safeguard measures to protect the EU against steel diverted from the US, and rebalancing trade by imposing tariffs on a series of American goods.
EUROFER director general Axel Eggert stated that the EU should be prepared to put safeguard measures in place immediately to avoid a surge of imports and stockpiling that could substantially harm the European steel industry.
“We welcome the Commission’s announcement of a three-tracked approach - and especially that appropriate, sufficient and swift measures will be taken - to safeguard the interests and jobs in our industry. It is clear that any supplementary, sizeable import surge would again destabilize a European steel market that has only just begun to settle onto a sustainable growth path," emphasized Mr. Eggert.
According to EUROFER, EU steel imports covering the full product scope have remained very high - 40 million mt in 2017 - despite multiple EU trade defense measures, most of which target dumping and illegal subsidies from China. The most recent import data for January 2018 already shows a massive surge for finished steel products driven by countries other than China, notably Russia, Turkey, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Belarus and Ukraine.
EUROFER considers it more than ever crucial that governments decisively act to address the root causes of global excess capacity, including the elimination of capacity and market distorting subsidies and government support measures worldwide pursued in the frame of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity.