EU targets steel overcapacity with new quotas

BRUSSELS: The European Commission unveiled quotas under the new system to limit duty-free steel imports into the European Union, in a move designed ‌to protect the bloc’s steel sector and increase its capacity utilisation to 80%.

Under the new rules, the EU’s annual tariff-free import quotas are slashed by 47% to 18.3 million tonnes, while an out-of-quota duty of 50% is introduced for 26 categories of steel products imported into the EU.

Half of the import quotas have been reserved exclusively for free trade agreement (FTA) partners, with the remaining half available to all trading partners, including FTA partners.

Many of those partners will receive country-specific quotas proportionate to their historic volumes, the commission added.

“Most of the EU’s FTA partners will therefore see a market access reduction significantly lower than the average reduction of 47% foreseen by the Steel Regulation,” it said.

A “significant number” of partners have provisionally agreed with the these allocations, the Commission said.

The Commission stressed the rules were needed to protect the European steel industry from overcapacity elsewhere in the world and dumping practices.

“Persistent global overcapacity in the steel sector remains a serious global problem and continues to distort international markets,” it said.

“The measure restore fair competition in a market affected by distortions linked to overcapacity,” it added.