EU moves to safeguard steel imports

EU moves to safeguard steel imports

The EU, in response to the U.S. Section 201 ruling, decided to implement its own safeguard measures to protect its steel industry. The EU Commission stated the reason behind the move is to protect Europe from diverted steel into the EU market. The move is in reaction to the Bush administration's annoucement on March 5, that it would slap tariffs of up to 30% on steel imports into the U.S. The EU Commission will implement what it calls, its provisional preventive measures (PPM), effective immediately, upon publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The Commission stated its stance falls in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules since the U.S. safeguard measures will end up diverting quantities of steel from the U.S. market into the EU market. The measures will not apply to developing countries whose steel supplies consist of less than 3% of imported goods into the EU. The measures are temporary until the final investigation is completed and covers a range of products using a tariff quota system (TRQ) for several types of products as well.