Czech business welcomes EU-US deal on steel and aluminum

The agreement that recently achieved between EU and US is maintaining US tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed by Trump under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. At the same time, it would allow a limited number of EU products to enter the United States duty-free and help the two economies face a common problem of global overcapacity supplies mainly from China.

According information we have now; agreement would allow EU countries to export 3.3 million tons of duty-free steel to the United States each year under a system of tariff quotas. Additional imports will be subject of 25% custom duties same as before. However, certain special types of steel products are covered by an exemption and not counted in to the quota.

Including exemptions, imports of 4.3 million tons of steel would be exempt from duty next year. Prior to the introduction of tariffs, the EU exported around five million tons of steel to the United States each year. It is a very important achievement. This agreement is able to cover majority of the EU steel export to the USA.

The agreement requires the steel and aluminum to be exclusively produced in the EU to be eligible for the duty-free status.

“The announcement of the deal to address the major outstanding trade conflict between the EU and the US is very good news for European business, in a moment companies are confronted with increasing costs in raw materials and supply chain bottlenecks. We are also confident that a more permanent solution that eliminates all forms of managed trade is found in the near future”, added Mr. Lukas Martin, International Relations Department Director in the Confederation of Industry.