International trade is essential for the European economy, and steel products are among the most intensively traded products in the world. Around a quarter of the 160 million tonnes of steel used in the EU every year is imported - and the EU is also a major steel exporter.
Trade policy issues are of central importance to EUROFER, because free and fair international trade conditions are the basis for the stability of the EU steel market. EUROFER welcomes free trade agreements that open up mutually accessible markets between trade partners and ensures fair access to public procurement tenders.
In particular, EUROFER monitors - on an ongoing basis - trade flows to ensure that imports into the EU are coming on a fair basis and are not dumped, produced using unfair subsidies or circumventing existing trade defence measures.
Brussels, 13 September 2023 – The European steel sector welcomes the vision for a renewed Industrial Strategy set out by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the State of the Union address. Relaunching Europe’s industrial engine with concrete measures in all relevant policy areas should be both a core mission for the final year of this legislature and a top priority for the future EU executive. The European steel sector, which has launched over 60 industrial-scale decarbonisation projects, stands ready to engage with the Commission to develop and implement the urgent actions needed to boost the whole European cleantech ecosystem, says the European Steel Association.
Brussels, 16 August 2023 – On 14 August, the Commission initiated two anti-circumvention investigations regarding possible circumvention via Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam of the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures imposed in 2021 and 2022 against imports of stainless steel cold rolled flat products from Indonesia. EUROFER welcomes the openings and the immediate registration of the imports from those countries towards a possible retroactive application of the existing duties.
Brussels, 7 June 2023 – EUROFER applauds the joint efforts of the European Antifraud Office (OLAF) and of the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) in ensuring the enforcement of trade defence instruments (TDIs). OLAF concluded that an EU importer was avoiding the payment of anti-dumping duties by means of untruthful import declarations. The total amount of financial damage across the EU amounts to 6.5 million EUR with possible additional financial and criminal consequences.