Amid the ongoing review of EU steel import safeguard measures, the European Steel Association (Eurofer) has provided recommendations to the European Commission on making the measures more restrictive, according to Yuriy Rudyuk, partner at Van Bael & Bellis.
Eurofer is proposing reducing tariff-rate quota volumes to reflect declining EU steel demand, raising the safeguard duty to 32-41%, and capping quotas for other product categories at 15%, as was done from July for HRC and wire rod, Rudyuk indicates in a LinkedIn post.
The association has also suggested removing the carry-over option, and replacing residual quotas with country-specific ones. It also advocates halting new exemptions for developing countries in the final year of the measures.
The proposals are expected to face opposition from importers, and industrial users, with the Commission needing to balance Eurofer’s requests against legal constraints under EU and WTO laws, Rudyuk opines.
“We cannot confirm the below as of today we have not yet sent any contribution to the Commission,” Eurofer says in response to a Kallanish request for comment.
The European Commission set the deadline for EU steel users and producers to submit questionnaires as 10 January 2025. The Commission will conclude its review by 31 March 2025, with any decisions potentially applying from 1 April 2025, including a new TRQ volume.
Elina Virchenko UAE
