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EU will check out extending steel import caps, states commissioner

The European Commission will look into methods to extend steps to limit steel imports as part of a general strategy to safeguard the sector as it decarbonises, Executive VicePresident Stephane Sejourne stated on Tuesday.

Sejourne, the French commissioner accountable for the European Union's commercial policy, said during a see of the ArcelorMittal plant in Ghent that a priority at the start of his mandate would be a prepare for steel and other metals.

Sejourne, part of the EU executive that got in workplace on Dec. 1, said the strategy would look for to minimize high energy costs and protect versus Chinese overcapacity as EU steelmakers cut carbon emissions to satisfy the EU's 2050 goal of carbon neutrality.

The EU put in place in 2018 protect procedures to limit the quantity tariff-free steel getting in the bloc to prevent a rise of imports after U.S. President Donald Trump's then steel tariffs effectively closed the U.S. market.

Under World Trade Company rules, safeguards can only be in place for an optimum of 8 years, indicating they will go out during Trump's second term in mid-2026. Trump has stated the 27-nation EU will need to pay a huge cost for not buying enough American exports.

The United States promises to install trade barriers versus us. Europe can not be the only continent where overcapacity is put out in competition versus our markets, Sejourne told reporters in front of an ArcelorMittal blast furnace.

He said the sector required continued defense in the shift to green steel, implying steel produced using sustainable energy, even after the safeguards expire.

We are looking into similar clauses that would have precisely the same effect, that are WTO compatible, Sejourne stated.

ArcelorMittal has stated it is delaying prepared green investments due to uncertainty over EU policy. Its Europe head Geert Van Poelvoorde, said three elements were essential for the sector - cheap, subsidised imports, increasing CO2 costs with a need to reform the EU's scheduled carbon border tax and energy expenses.

He stated the EU needed to decide how big a steel industry it wanted.

I tell them that if we only diminish by 30%, then I will be extremely pleased. This will occur. The question is do we keep 80 or 70% or do we go even more? This is the call that the Commission need to take, he said.

(source: Reuters)