The latest market reports suggest that EU (European Union) has decided to impose 25% tariffs on carbon and alloy flat and long steel as well as aluminum imports from U.S. starting from 20 Jun’18. This action has been taken in response to the steep import tariffs announced by the U.S. government on steel and aluminum with no permanent exemption being given to EU beyond 1 Jun’18.
However, the government official from EU has confirmed that these duties will be applied only after WTO (World Trade Organisation) allows to implement such retaliatory measures. The EU tariffs on U.S. imports not only include steel and aluminum but also includes a variety of products such as textiles, glassware, and oils.
In this trade dispute between the two countries, the EU steel industry is likely to be affected more than U.S. steel sector. This is because as per Eurofer data, in 2017 EU exported 3.2 MnT of carbon steel to the U.S, while EU imported just 101,160 tonnes of carbon steel from the U.S.
As per the market sources, US imported steel products were worth Eur5.3 billion in 2017, alongside Eur1.11 billion of aluminum, and subsequently, these measures by the U.S. could have a “considerable negative effect” on the European industries.
The import tariffs by EU are likely to be implemented in two stages. In the first stage, duties of 25% on U.S. steel and aluminum will be imposed from 20 June and will continue till U.S. lifts tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from EU. In the second stage, duties of 10%, 25%, and 50% will be imposed on an extended range of products from 23 March 2021.
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