The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has called for EU policy makers, member states, industry and trades unions to show solidarity in the face of the US tariffs on steel and aluminum, stating that they constitute the wrong approach to dealing with the global overcapacity problem in steel.
“We are facing another crisis, triggered by President Trump’s invocation of Section 232. The 25 percent tariffs on steel across the board present a real threat: not only for the EU and global steel industries, but also to the global trading system and the value chains that derive from it,” stated Geert Van Poelvoorde, EUROFER president.
“Europe will suffer through increased imports, or trade deflection, since it is a reasonable assumption that the imports deflected by the US will seek a home in Europe. The EU already saw 40 million mt of imports land in 2017, which was a new peak. This is in fact higher than the 35 million mt that arrived in the US. EUROFER estimates that Section 232 could lead to a further 13 million mt coming to Europe - and this is a conservative estimation,” emphasized Van Poelvoorde.
According to Mr. Van Poelvoorde, today’s challenge ultimately has its roots in the global overcapacity the industry continues to wrestle with. He said that it is more crucial than ever that governments act decisively to address the root causes of global excess capacity and this includes the elimination of capacity and market distorting subsidies and government support measures worldwide, pursued in the framework of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity.