EU Steel Summit Yields No Action, But More Discussions
11/10/2015 - European Union ministers agreed they must take steps to protect their steelmakers from the onslaught of imported Chinese steel, but failed to come to terms on a plan for how to do so during a summit meeting held 9 November in Brussels, Belgium.
Instead, they’ll discuss the situation more later this year, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
“The council agreed on the gravity of the situation as well as on the need to take concrete actions that will help ensure the long-term viability of a modern European steel sector," the EU council said in a statement.
The summit follows rounds of layoffs and plant closures in the United Kingdom, which has been especially hard-hit by China’s oversupply and the resulting drop in prices. According to the International Business Times, more than 4,000 steel industry jobs have been lost in the U.K. alone.
According to the Reuters news service, EU steel executives want the European Commission to reduce the amount of time it takes to impose duties and restore a system of monitoring steel import volumes and prices.
They said the surge of Chinese-made steel during the third quarter was unprecedented, with prices "falling like a rock" amid clear evidence of dumping, Reuters reported.
Labor unions said they are disappointed that meeting ended without any immediate plan in place.
“Council ministers and the (European) Commission have clearly failed to grasp the urgency of the current situation. Steelworkers whose jobs are at risk and who are seeing the impact of the dumping of cheap steel will take very little comfort from the conclusions of today’s meeting,” Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, told The Guardian newspaper.
“We need action now and would have at least expected a clear statement of intent from the meeting that they will speed up reform of trade defense instruments or introduce other measures so that European steel producers are better protected from dumping,” he said.
“The promise of yet another meeting of steel stakeholders only delays the action the industry requires.”
“The council agreed on the gravity of the situation as well as on the need to take concrete actions that will help ensure the long-term viability of a modern European steel sector," the EU council said in a statement.
The summit follows rounds of layoffs and plant closures in the United Kingdom, which has been especially hard-hit by China’s oversupply and the resulting drop in prices. According to the International Business Times, more than 4,000 steel industry jobs have been lost in the U.K. alone.
According to the Reuters news service, EU steel executives want the European Commission to reduce the amount of time it takes to impose duties and restore a system of monitoring steel import volumes and prices.
They said the surge of Chinese-made steel during the third quarter was unprecedented, with prices "falling like a rock" amid clear evidence of dumping, Reuters reported.
Labor unions said they are disappointed that meeting ended without any immediate plan in place.
“Council ministers and the (European) Commission have clearly failed to grasp the urgency of the current situation. Steelworkers whose jobs are at risk and who are seeing the impact of the dumping of cheap steel will take very little comfort from the conclusions of today’s meeting,” Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, told The Guardian newspaper.
“We need action now and would have at least expected a clear statement of intent from the meeting that they will speed up reform of trade defense instruments or introduce other measures so that European steel producers are better protected from dumping,” he said.
“The promise of yet another meeting of steel stakeholders only delays the action the industry requires.”
