Cecilia Malmstroem – Photo EC
(BRUSSELS) – The EU promised a ‘firm and proportionate response’ to possible US import restrictions for steel and aluminium announced on 1 March, which they said put thousands of European jobs in jeopardy.
Discussing US president Donald Trump’s threat, the EU’s College of Commissioners warned that the EU stood ‘ready to react proportionately’ and any action would be fully in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules in case the US measures are formalised and affect EU’s economic interests.
“We still hope, as a USA security partner, that the EU would be excluded. We also hope to convince the US administration that this is not the right move,” said the Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem. She said the EU had not taken any formal action because no US decision had yet been taken.
But if it is, Ms Malmostroem said it would hurt the European Union and there would be a firm response. And “unlike these proposed US duties, our three tracks of work are in line with our obligations in the WTO,” she added: “They will be carried out by the book. “
“The root cause of the problem in the steel and aluminium sector is global overcapacity. It is rooted in the fact that a lot of steel and aluminium production takes place under massive state subsidies, and under non-market conditions. This can only be addressed by cooperation, getting to the source of the problem and working together. What is clear is that turning inward is not the answer. Protectionism cannot be the answer, it never is.”
The EU said it remained ‘available to continue working on this together with the United States’. It emphasized that the EU ‘has been and remains a strong supporter of an open and rules-based global trade system’.
