The European Council describes in detail the amendments to the trade regime
The Council of the European Union has detailed its position on the proposed regulation of steel trade, designed to replace protective measures, Kallanish notes.
This follows from the agreement reached between the Council and Parliament earlier in April.
By December 31, 2026, the Commission must assess whether changes should be made to the scope of application to extend them to certain types of products, including cast iron pipes, certain types of wire products and forged rods. By June 30, 2027, it must assess whether additional products made of or containing significant amounts of steel should be covered, including priority cast iron and steel products that are not currently within the scope of application.
The total annual volume of quotas is set at 18,345,922 tons with a 50% duty exceeding the quota. The allocation of quotas by product category should be based on import shares in the period 2022-2024.
The European Commission will also have the authority to change the total quota volumes in the range from 14.4 million tons to 22.2 million tons, taking into account the interests of the Union and factors such as demand, import market shares, the development of excess production capacity, the process of decarbonization of the EU steel sector, availability of supplies and defense policy. purposes.
This regime will apply to imports from all third countries, including countries with tariff preferences or free trade agreements, unless bilateral protective measures are applied instead. Products made in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are excluded.
The compromise text retains the requirement for melting and pouring. Importers of products covered by the agreement must provide verifiable evidence, such as a factory test certificate confirming the country in which the steel or cast iron in question was first produced in liquid form and then cast in solid form. The Commission should adopt implementing rules on the type of evidence required by August 31, 2026.
Within two years of entry into force, the Commission must assess whether it is necessary to specify the country of melting and bottling as the basis for taking advantage of the tariff quotas provided for in the regulations. Based on this assessment, he can submit a legislative proposal.
Quotas will be distributed quarterly. From July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, unused quarterly quota volumes will be postponed to the next quarter. From July 1, 2027, the Commission will review the transition period, taking into account import pressure, average quota usage, and insufficient availability of supplies to consumers.