The European Commission is determined to tackle the problem of overcapacity in a more radical way: on Tuesday 7 October it presented a proposal for a regulation imposing tariff quotas on steel imports. Above a certain volume, steel exporters to the EU could face a tariff of 50% rather than the current 25%.
Duty-free import quotas will also be cut almost in half (18 million tonnes, compared with 33 million tonnes at present), if the proposal is adopted.
If the EU fails to take action when...