The revision of the steel safeguard measures was anticipated in order to "take into account the various signals received from stakeholders concerned over the last months", a European Commission spokesman confirmed on Thursday 6 June.
Included in the schedule for July 2019, this revision, which aims to verify the compliance and effectiveness of these measures, was brought forward following certain difficulties encountered during their implementation, explained the spokesperson (see EUROPE 12229/25).
"The Commission is committed to concluding the ongoing review in the fastest possible time frame", another source told EUROPE.
"If the ongoing review shows that adaptations are needed", the safeguard measures will be modified in line with the applicable rules and procedures. "1 July would be too tight but we definitely intend to conclude this review as quickly as possible", the same source concluded.
Since 2 February, the EU has applied definitive safeguard measures on steel to prevent any risk of diversion of steel exports to the European market resulting from US sanctions (see EUROPE 12185/4).
26 categories of steel products are thus subject to tariff quotas until July 2021.
A global quota has been identified, based on the average of imports over the last three years. Beyond this quota, a duty of 25% is applied. Specific quotas have been allocated to so-called 'historical' suppliers. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)