The European Union will limit imports of steel
into the bloc following U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of metals
tariffs after EU governments backed the plan in a vote on Wednesday.
It means that all steel imports will be subject
to an effective cap until July 2021 to counter concerns of EU producers that
European markets could be flooded by steel products that are no longer being
imported into the U.S.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that
EU member countries had backed its plan to impose "safeguards" and
that definitive measures would enter force early in February.EU member
countries had backed its plan to impose "safeguards"
The bloc had already imposed safeguards on a
provisional basis on imports of 23 steel product types in July, with an expiry
date of Feb 4.
The Commission's plan involves a quota set at
the average level of imports over the past three years, plus 5 percent. A 25
percent tariff would apply once the quotas are filled.
There are also specific limits for major
exporting countries. The quotas would apply for three-month periods in order to
limit stockpiling and could also be increased by 5 percent each year.
European auto manufacturers association ACEA
has called the measures protectionist. It has said that steel exports to the
United States have only dropped slightly and so little extra steel has being
diverted to Europe.Import volumes into the EU increased significantly from
March 2018
The Commission says that import volumes into
the EU increased significantly from March 2018, when the United States imposed
tariffs of 25 percent on imports of steel and 10 percent on aluminium. It
extended these measures to the European Union, Canada and Mexico in June.
Steel group Eurofer, whose members include
world number one ArcelorMittal and Germany's ThyssenKrupp, has welcomed the
safeguards.
The main exporters of steel to the EU are
China, India, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Ukraine.
Source: mining.com