The European Commission has announced definitive anti-dumping measures today (Thursday). These had already been imposed, on a provisional basis, in October 2016, on some steel products coming from China.
A spokesperson from the European Union (EU) Executive explained that these customs duties, which are “higher” than those imposed on a provisional basis, “will serve to protect producers of European steel from the harmful effects of Chinese dumping on European markets.”
Steel production, currently in a state of worldwide overcapacity, remains a sector subject to stringent monitoring by the EU. The latter has already implemented dozens of trade defence measures on the import of iron and steel products.
On this occasion, certain hot-rolled flat iron and steel products are affected.
Somewhat inconsistently, the EU also announced that it had decided not to impose provisional customs duties on the same products coming from Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia and the Ukraine.
The Commission spokesperson stated, “The investigation into imports coming from these countries will continue for a further six months. It will assess in detail the impact of potential measures on industries using imported steel” for their EU-manufactured products.
The Brussels Times
