EU measures curbing steel imports concern auto industry
Brussels, 18 July 2018 – The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) strongly regrets the introduction of provisional measures to curb steel imports into the EU, approved by the European Commission today.
In March, the Commission initiated a safeguard investigation in response to US restrictions on steel and aluminium. The provisional outcome of this procedure, announced today, is the introduction of ‘tariff-rate quotas’.
Essentially these are quotas calculated based on the average imports of different types of steel over the past three years. A 25% tariff will be applied to all imports that go beyond these quotas.
“Car makers source 94% of automotive steel in Europe, so the EU steel industry is a vital partner for us,” stated ACEA Secretary General, Erik Jonnaert. “However, these measures will be damaging to our competitiveness, as they will lead to steel price increases in the EU market – where prices are already very high.”
ACEA also regrets the Commission has not taken into account that demand for steel is increasing across many sectors, including automotive.
Furthermore, the EU steel industry’s capacity utilisation for automotive grades of steel is already very high. Auto manufacturers are consequently suffering from long lead times due to this lack of capacity.
The provisional measures will last for 200 days, by when the Commission must take a decision on definitive measures.
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 14 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group.
- Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/.
- Contact: Cara McLaughlin, Communications Director, cm@acea.auto, +32 485 88 66 47.
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About the EU automobile industry
- 13.0 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 11.5% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €374.6 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total
