Stainless Steel Dumping — New Duties Sought

The Commission plan to impose tariffs of around 25% for chinese imports and 12% on stainless steel imported from Taiwan after a complaint was made by Eurofer - the European Steel Producers’ Association - in May of last year.

Duties are set to be in place by March 26th. Until September, when an investigation ends, the duties will remain provisional. Eurofer accuse China and Taiwan of importing cold-rolled stainless steel sheet worth almost £450m into the EU in 2014, accounting for 17% of the overall market, much of which was ‘dumped’ - sold at an unfairly low price.

The Commission spearheaded by Eurofer’s complaints is also carrying out investigation into the alleged dumping of flat-rolled electrical steel, a metal often found in transformers. The investigation involves a number of countries including China, Russia, Japan and the USA. Existing duties on imported Chinese stainless steel wire rod would be prolong if Eurofer are successful.

The total Chinese stainless steel export level reached its highest-ever level in 2014, exceeding 90m tonnes (the equivalent of 60% of all steel consumed in the EU). Eurofer argue that the expansion of China's stainless steel sector ‘does not reflect cost advantages’ and that its exports include special products like high-end coated stainless steel sheets. Concern about the potential for an export surge from Russia, due to a depressed economy and low rouble value, was highlighted by Eurofer, who urged the Commission to ‘monitor imports closely’.

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