South Africa expects EU to remove AD duties on hot rolled coil

South Africa expects EU to remove AD duties on hot rolled coil

The SA-EU Cooperation Council held a two day meeting under the framework of the trade, development and cooperation agreement signed in 1999. One of the issues discussed during the meeting was steel and the import measures imposed by the EU on hot rolled steel sheet in coils from South Africa back in February 2000. South African bureaucrats expressed their discomfort with the subject duties which were at the same time imposed on Taiwan, India, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Depending on the decision by the EU council of Ministers, a possibility that the duties could be removed by February 2004 was mentioned by the EU officials. It appears that South Africa is willing that the duties are repealed as soon as possible, in order to relieve a cost burden on the South African steel producers such as Iscor. If the anti-dumping duties at the rate of 5.2% are removed, the regular 0.5% import duty will give quite a relief to the producers in the SA. South Africa believes that any positive development in Europe would be welcomed at a time when the US government also softened its implementations against steel imports.