Lobbying for European trade protection measures is intensifying
Disagreements between European steel producers and importers are growing amid the European Commission's lobbying for the future of the bloc's trade protection measures.
The July 28 announcement of the new EU-US trade deal revealed that EU steel exports will continue to be subject to 50 percent United States import duties imposed under Section 232. Eurofer said the agreement, which sets a 15% "reciprocal" tariff on other products, It will place a "huge burden" on the European steel industry. It said that the ongoing tariff risks are reducing steel exports from the EU to the US, which totaled 3.8 million tons last year. 2024.
After trade talks with the Trump administration, the EU and UK delegations expressed hope that a future quota would be agreed, leading to a reduction or nullification of steel tariffs in the United States. President Trump has previously stated that the UK's recently agreed temporary steel duty rate of 25% will depend on tougher trade protection measures.
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This month, European Parliament respondents indicated that the new CBAM taxes, which are due to be introduced on January 1, will put the only upward price pressure on the market in the coming months. Against the background of low demand, exacerbated by the summer holidays in Europe, attention quickly shifted to further measures that could protect businesses from the impact of cheap imports. Such measures could support hopes that the EU and the UK will provide improved terms of trade with the United States.
Both the EU and the UK have tightened trade protection measures in recent months. Last month, this report reflected the dissatisfaction felt by many British importers after the revision of protective quotas. The intervention of the country's Secretary of State for Business and Trade led to a halving of previously proposed restrictions on the use of quarterly quotas by individual countries just one day before the introduction of the new regime.
A growing threat to importers' business models
Tensions are rising among importers in both the UK and the EU as increased restrictions on international trade threaten their business models. This month, most EU countries stopped placing orders. The European Commission's failure to publish basic indicators