The European Union (EU) has implemented import tariffs on specific types of steel and initiated anti-dumping investigations on others in a bid to address concerns raised by EU industries ahead of crisis talks regarding the future of high-emission sectors in Europe.
Effective Saturday, the EU will impose tariffs of up to 26.2% on certain cold-rolled flat carbon steel imported from Russian and Chinese producers. The European Commission found that these producers had engaged in unfair practices, undercutting European producers. Additionally, the EU has opened three new investigations against Chinese producers, bringing the total number of investigations to nine. In total, the EU has implemented 37 trade defence measures for steel.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom stated that the EU has taken action on more than 30 different types of steel products and will continue to address industry concerns. However, Axel Eggert from EU steel association Eurofer expressed concern that the tariffs may still be too low to effectively prevent dumping. He highlighted that the United States would likely apply a higher rate of 59% in a similar case.
On Monday, the European Commission will host a high-level conference, streamed online, to discuss how the EU can achieve its emission targets without compromising the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries. The conference will focus on EU funding programs such as Horizon 2020, which supports the development of low-carbon technologies.
The sale of European Union Allowances (EUAs) by crisis-hit industries has been identified as a contributing factor to the significant price decline in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) since the end of 2015, resulting in a 44% reduction in carbon prices. Many industrial firms in the EU have expressed challenges due to China's economic slowdown, which has led to an influx of cheap exports and dampened domestic demand. Germany's largest steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp, recently reported a net loss of €23 million in its fiscal Q1, compared to a net profit of €50 million in the previous year.
