EU pressures the US to cancel tariffs on steel derivatives

The European Commission is putting pressure on the US to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum products. Brussels is seeking progress on those points of the agreement that have not yet come into force, according to European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič, as reported by Reuters.

Under the agreement, the parties must consider measures to protect their steel, aluminum, and derivative products from the impact of excess capacity. At the same time, the current US tariffs of 50% may be replaced by quotas for duty-free or low-tariff supplies.

The European Commission believes that it has fulfilled its part of the agreement by proposing to increase European steel tariffs to 50%, reduce quotas by almost half, and more closely monitor the origin of imported steel.

The proposal still needs to be approved by EU governments and the European Parliament, but, as Šefčovič noted, it is similar in outline to the US approach.

The European Commissioner for Trade believes that the next step should be to resolve the issue of US tariffs on “derivative” goods. The practice of calculating the content of embedded metals in everyday products, such as household appliances, must be stopped. Šefčovič added that he had outlined this proposal in a letter to his US colleagues.

US tariffs apply to a range of “derived” goods made from steel and aluminum. In August this year, the US added another 407 categories to this list, imposing a 50% duty on steel and aluminum content, as well as a universal rate on non-metallic parts, which is 15% for the EU.

On October 7, the European Commission presented a proposal to protect the EU steel industry from the unfair impact of global overcapacity. It includes limiting duty-free imports to 18.3 million tons per year, which is 47% less than the current steel quotas for 2024, as well as doubling the duty on products exceeding the quota to 50%.