German stainless steel manufacturer Gerber Steel proposes to exempt the annual volume of steel imports from EU protective tariffs if the importer is a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Gerber believes that small and medium-sized enterprises in particular are suffering from this. high tariffs, although they lead to limited carbon dioxide emissions, especially if CBAM is also taken into account. This double burden for small and medium-sized businesses "means huge bureaucratic efforts, as well as competitive advantages over large corporations," says executive director Torsten Gerber. "According to Eursstat, 3% of large companies in the EU account for 57% of all steel imports. Therefore, small and medium-sized enterprises cannot be blamed for possible dumping, and they should be exempt from European protective trade measures," he tells Callanish.
As a solution, Gerber proposes to provide small and medium-sized enterprises with a volume of 25,000 tons per year, which are exempt from tariffs, as well as from CBAM reporting obligations and
Gerber Steel criticizes the current tariff quota system (TRQ), as it is based on the principle of "first come, first served", which is especially unprofitable for small players, since large players tend to exhaust quotas by large-scale transportation of orders.
Since the current protective quotas expire in June 2026, the company also warns against hastily introducing a new trading instrument before CBAM becomes operational. The lack of CBAM criteria and "default values" is an example of how immature regulations are hurting, especially small and medium-sized players, Gerber argues.
With a campaign called "EU Steel Carbon Shield", the company presented its concept to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in June.
Christian Kel Germany
Kallanish.com
