EU home appliance manufacturers warn against safeguard proposal

The European Commission’s proposed steel safeguard replacement measure is likely to exacerbate the declining share of EU-produced appliances in total EU sales, as EU plants close and capacity in and imports from third countries grow, warns APPLiA, the association representing home appliance manufacturers in Europe.

The association’s members produce nearly 65 million large appliances directly within the EU annually. While the European large household appliances market has expanded since 2021, the share of EU-produced appliances in total EU sales fell by 5% in 2024, it notes.

“The safeguards as envisioned in the Commission’s proposal risk creating shortages of certain types of steel, thereby increasing production costs and negatively affecting industry competitiveness,” the association says in a note seen by Kallanish. “While presented as a general safeguard, the proposals impacts are uneven. It places strong emphasis on supporting the European steel producers with almost no consideration of the negative impact on downstream manufacturers.”

At current capacity, European steel production cannot meet domestic demand at a competitive price. Steel accounts for 46% of the materials in association members’ products and “creating artificial scarcity” will significantly cause an increase in primary production costs, it continues.

APPLiA suggests maintaining the current out-of-quota duties; administering quotas on a yearly basis and reintroducing a carry-over mechanism; improving transparency on quota allocation; and ensuring adequate quotas for steel categories which are not manufactured in sufficient volumes in the EU. It also suggests reviewing the measure on an annual basis, using criteria tied to quota exhaustion, supply-chain impact, and downstream harm.

Lastly, it warns the melt-and-pour rule will introduce administrative and financial burdens and supply chain uncertainty atop already tight quotas.

Pauline Weinzierl, head of trade and industrial policy at Directorate E of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security (DG Trade), said this week that, during the trade measure consultation, steel users recognised the need to have protection for domestic steelmakers upstream.

Adam Smith Austria

kallanish.com