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EU plan faster decision making on steel import tariffs - Report
Bloomberg reported that the European Union plans to accelerate decisions on steel-import tariffs amid concern that Chinese and other global competitors pose a threat to European producers, according to two EU officials. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, intends to reduce the time taken to carry out inquiries into alleged below cost or dumped imports of steel, the officials said on Monday on the condition of anonymity. It will disclose the plan in a paper on the steel industry to be released on Wednesday in Brussels.
Normally, after opening a dumping investigation, the commission decides within nine months whether to introduce provisional anti-dumping duties and within 15 months whether to apply “definitive” five-year levies. On Feb. 29, industry ministers from the 28-nation EU urged the commission to shorten steel-dumping probes by at least two months “whenever feasible.”
The commission will be unable to shave more than a month off the time needed for decisions on provisional anti-dumping duties, one of the people said. That’s because of the consultations required with EU governments, the languages involved and the staff available, according to the person. Still, an eight-month time frame for provisional EU anti-dumping levies on steel would bring Europe closer to the U.S. period of about six months.
On Feb. 15, EU industries led by the steel sector mobilized thousands of people for a march in Brussels to warn about job losses from Chinese competition. The commission has sought to reassure European manufacturers that it won’t shy away from slapping tariffs on imports from China when they are found to be dumped.
In addition to pledging to accelerate steel-dumping investigations, the commission on Wednesday will seek to remove a cap it applies when imposing anti-dumping duties. A change to this “lesser-duty” rule would need the approval of EU national governments and the European Parliament -- a process than can take months or years.
Source : Bloomberg