Cerame-Unie and PRE sent a joint letter to DG Trade in support of the extension of the safeguard measures currently in place on certain imports of steel products.
The EU Commission introduced provisional safeguard measures on steel imports in July 2018, which were confirmed in early 2019 for a period until end of June 2021. In February 2021, the Commission has initiated an investigation to assess whether the current measures should be extended beyond June 2021.
The increase of steel imports from extra-EU countries, as well as the decrease in EU steel production, are concerning trends for the EU refractory industry, whose products are mostly used in the steel supply chain (55% in 2019). For this reason, Cerame-Unie and PRE have submitted a letter to the Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, expressing the ceramic industry’s support to the extension of the safeguard measures beyond June 2021.
The Commission will now assess all information received in the course of the investigation and reach a decision by 30 June 2021.
