EU Puts 25% Duties on Steel Rods from China

The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, will impose temporary duties on steel wire rods imported from China and Moldova while probing the matter to decide whether permanent duties are necessary, Dow Jones reported on Jan. 6, citing EU diplomats.
The move comes after a complaint from the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (Eurofer), whose members include steel giants such as Arcelor Mittal and Thyssen Krupp AG. The European companies said Chinese and Moldovan makers of steel wire rods were dumping their products into the EU market at prices below the production cost.
The duties will be about 25% for rods from China and about 4% on rods from Moldova, the diplomats said. The E.U. imported about 713-million-euro worth of steel rods from these two countries in 2007. The steel wire rods are used mainly in construction.
If the European Commission decides permanent duties on steel rods from China are necessary, it must seek approval from the 27 EU national governments. The dispute is one of several on trade issues between the EU and China.
In another trade battle, Eurofer has pulled back its anti-dumping filing with the commission over hot-dipped metallic coatings imported from China and used in construction, automobile manufacturing and household goods.
With the economy slowing down, Chinese imports of these products have fallen sharply, making the filed complaint no longer necessary.

• Tel: 0086-371-86151827 86151627
• Fax: 0086-371-86011881
• [email protected]