On April 6 this year European steelmakers finally saw new anti-dumping measures imposed against imports of Chinese steel, when the European Commission decided on imposition of permanent duties on imports of hot rolled coils, which vary from 18.1 to 35.9 per cent, depending on individual products.

The European Steel Association EUROFER and U. S. Steel Košice also demanded that provisional anti-dumping measures be applied against Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine as well.

"There is no doubt that each of the five countries were dumping and that this caused harm to the steelmaking industry. A decision to not impose measures would be an invitation for these countries to further increase the dumping of artificially low-priced exports into the EU and to persist in the build-up of excess steel capacity," said U. S. Steel Košice President Scott Buckiso even before the European Commission decision, demanding compliance with the same rules from all producers on the steel market.

On this occasion, however, the European Commission failed to heed the initiative from EUROFER and U. S. Steel Košice related to provisional import duties for Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. According to the Košice steelworks President this could be devastating for the market, leading to reduced investment in steelmaking and also having a negative impact on jobs. The investigation into dumped imports from the above countries continues. The Commission can decide in October whether it will impose permanent protective import duties on steel products from these countries, as in the case of China. Then the European steelmakers would not be exposed to further risks.