Turkey is among 13 countries that have reached agreements with the European Union on access to tariff-free steel import quotas as the bloc prepares to tighten restrictions to protect its struggling steel industry, European officials said Tuesday.
The new measures, which take effect July 1, will double duty on foreign steel and nearly halve the amount of steel that can enter the EU without tariffs. Brussels says the move is aimed at shielding European producers from global overcapacity, with cheap exports from China a major concern.
China produces more than half the world’s steel, and the EU says Beijing unfairly subsidizes the sector.
Under the new system the bloc’s tariff-free steel import quotas will be cut to 18.3 million tons a year, roughly the level of EU steel imports in 2013.
Half of those quotas will be reserved for countries that have free trade agreements or privileged trade ties with the EU. The other half will be open to all exporting countries, including those key partners.
The European Commission, which leads EU trade policy, said it had so far reached deals with 13 countries on access to the tariff-free quotas. The list includes Brazil, Britain, India, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.
The commission said it wanted to “minimize” the impact of the safeguard measures on trading partners.
The issue has become more pressing since US President Donald Trump imposed higher tariffs on steel last year, prompting other countries, including Canada, to take similar steps.
“The overcapacity was really coming to our markets as other markets such as the North American and the American market in particular, closed itself,” a senior EU official said.
The official said the EU measure was not aimed only at China.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said the bloc’s approach struck “a careful balance” between its commitments under trade agreements, World Trade Organization rules and “the need to maintain diversified supply.”
The European steel industry has welcomed the measures.
Eurofer, the European steel industry association, said European steel production fell to a record low of 125.8 million tons last year, far below China’s 960 million tons.
© Agence France-Presse