The European Commission stated that the current free trade quota for steel imports has become incompatible with Europe's falling steel consumption. In this context, import quotas for different categories of steel products have been decreased to counter the increase in the market share of imports.
Under the new regulations, the European Commission will impose quota limits on certain steel categories and additional restrictions for some countries. The proposed changes will reduce the total duty-free supply of hot rolled coils (HRC) to 1.9 million tons per quarter, representing a 12.1% decrease compared to the previous quarter. This reduction is a consequence of the decision to withdraw 65% of the Russian volumes redistributed due to sanctions imposed following the conflict in Ukraine. These tonnages will also be removed from quotas for sheet, wire rod and hollow sections. The biggest volume drop in HRC will be in India, where duty-free volumes will decrease by around 23%.
Furthermore, the quota for access to HRCs from “other countries” will be reduced from 15% to 13% per quarter. The quotas for cold rolled coils (CRC) are set at 13%, 20% for hot-dip galvanized 4B, 25% for HDG 4A deliveries and 20% for rebar. For other products, the limits will range between 15-30%.
The Commission will revoke access to the remaining quota volumes for HRC, CRC and HDG 4A (hot-dip galvanized) in the last quarter of the measures year, from April to June. Importers will be able to gain access to up to 30% of the remaining 4B volumes. Quarter-to-quarter transfers of unused quota volumes for various products such as HRC, CRC, 4A HDG, slabs and wire rod will no longer take place, but the mechanism will continue to apply to 4B HDG and ribbed steel.
The Commission will also decrease the annual quota liberalization rate from 1% to 0.1%. These two changes will take effect from July 1. All other changes will enter into force on April 1. In addition, a new quota of 1B for hot rolled coils for imports under HS code 7212 60 00 will be introduced for imports under HS code 7212 60 00, due to the substitution of a very specific product identified by an interested party.
The list of developing countries not covered by these measures is little changed. Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, China and Thailand are still exempted from the HRC quota.
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