On October 20, US president Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, together with European Council president Charles Michel, will gather in Washington D.C. to discuss the introduction of new commercial duties on imports from China and other countries.
In order to tackle overproduction, the US and the EU may apply a generalized duty of 25 percent on all export from such countries.
Assofermet, the association representing Italian distributors of scrap, raw materials, and steel products, has stated its opposition to the new measures in a press release, underlining that these measures would jeopardize steel and aluminum import flows in Europe and especially in Italy, where manufacturing largely depends on supply from exporting countries.
Besides, the exporting countries are already subject to a number of measures among which are safeguard measures, AD duties and countervailing duties. Imposing new restrictions would put steel and aluminum supply in Europe at risk, causing serious consequences for the Italian economy, Assofermet said, with Italy being a country that transforms the import materials into final products.
In addition, this deal between the European Union and the United States, together with increasing energy costs, the reduction in imports and other factors, would boost steel prices. As a consequence, final product producers will not be able to compete in the global market, weakening the presence of manufacturers in the European Union.