European Commission extends duties on steel imports for 3 more years

The European Commission (EC) has extended the protective duties on imported steel products into the region for another three years, until June 30, 2024, Report informs with reference to the EC.

Protective measures in the form of a 25% duty, applied after exceeding the established tariff quotas, were introduced in 2019 for three years (until June 30, 2021) for 26 categories of steel products.

As reported earlier, the EC in January 2021 received a request from EU members to consider the possibility of extending the measures against the background of continuing pressure due to the supply of steel products to the region by other countries, in the condition of excess production capacity, and the remaining US “Section 232” duties in the amount of 25%.

The study showed that the economic situation in the EU deteriorated significantly in 2019, when the industry began to show losses, and a sharp negative trend emerged in all indices. The European Commission also notes that in 2018-2019, industrial companies’ profitability in the sector decreased by 6.1 percentage points, to -0.4% at the end of 2019.

A severe deterioration in the situation was observed even before the unanticipated start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial crisis in the EU industry continued to deteriorate in 2020 when the effect of the pandemic had an additional impact on the region’s economy.