Participants in the latest session of industriAll's Committee for Basic Metals, which took place on November 17 and 18 of this year in Taranto, Italy, all agreed at the close of discussions that it will be necessary in the very near future to introduce import duties, which should be implemented by the European Commission. This requirement is also supported by the steelproducers' association Eurofer. Another possibility, stemming from negotiations with China, is that minimum prices could be introduced below which steel could not be sold in Europe. The Committee also raised objections to the amendment of the Directive on the European system of trading with CO2 emissions (EU ETS) with the aim of introducing fairer trading, mainly for firms investing in improving the environment. Global institutions as well as national governments must intervene in the solution of the problems which have arisen, and they must aggressively enforce antidumping rules through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and strengthen the laws against unfair competition. Equally the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) must make efforts at the highest level through its Committee for Steel for the implementation of an equitable framework for steel producers and the introduction of sanctions against those who breach free market rules. All of these requirements are reiterated in an announcement from industriAll Global, the worldwide labor union association, whose congress took place in Pittsburgh earlier this year. It is also emphatically stated in this announcement that industriAll Global is against any form of attempt by the European Commission to grant China market economy status, as this would open up further opportunities for unfair competition in times of economic vulnerability. The labor unions committed themselves to organizing coordinating events to save the steel industry, the jobs in it, and sustenance for millions of families.

The leadership of the IndustriAll Committee for Basic Metals proposed that one of its sessions in 2016, during the second half of which Slovakia will be the presiding country in the Council of the European Union, should be held in Košice.