LegalizeCommission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1782 of 24 June 2024 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159, including the prolongation of the safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products
This is the act as published. Later amendments are not folded into the text below: each one is a separate act in this repository and an entry in this law's history.
Including the levels prior to the imposition of a safeguard measure and those of the first years of the application of the measure assessed in the First Prolongation Review Regulation.
Definitive Safeguard Regulation, recital (47).
For a full description of the product families, see recital (21) of the Definitive Safeguard Regulation.
For a broader picture on import evolution in previous years, see Table 2 of the Definitive Safeguard Regulation and Table 9 of the First Prolongation Review Regulation.
2013 is the first year of the period covered by the Commission’s data collection in the context of the Definitive Safeguard Regulation.
Already in the definitive measure, with a lower share of import penetration, the Commission had established that the increase in imports (+71 %) had been significant. See Section 3 of Definitive Safeguard Regulation.
See recital (25) of the First Prolongation Review Regulation.
Data extracted from the Commission’s dedicated website providing information on every TRQ use, which is updated on a daily basis. The underlying data used for this analysis is publicly available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/quota_consultation.jsp
Year 4 covers the period 1 July 2021 until 30 June 2022, Year 5 covers the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023
Year 6, covering the period 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2024.
Data from 1 July 2023 until 31 March 2024.
These origins are China, India, Korea, Taiwan and Türkiye.
On average the number of TRQs exhausted by these origins represented 65% of the total TRQs exhausted.
See recitals (27)-(28) of the First Prolongation Review Regulation.
Oct-Dec 2023, Jan-Mar 2024, Apr-Jun 2024. A similar pattern was identified in some quarters in product category 16 (wire rod).
See Table 9 of this Regulation.
See OECD Steel Market Developments Q2 2024, Table 7.
These countries are (alphabetically listed): Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Türkiye and Vietnam. Their share of total imports into the Union was 65% in 2023.
Data from China, also one of the main exporters to the Union, has not been included as its specific evolution is dealt with separately. The same analysis including exports from China would have shown a 3% increase in exports in the same period.
See OECD Steel Market Developments, Q2 2024, Table 6.
See OECD Steel trade and trade policy developments (Jul. – Dec. 2023), Section 2.1.1. This volume is higher than the combined export volumes of the next four world’s largest steel exporters: Japan, Korea (Republic of), European Union and Türkiye. See: OECD Steel Market Developments, Q2 2024, Table 6.
See OECD Steel Market Developments, Q2 2024, Table 5.
See evolution of domestic consumption in key markets in Table 13 of this Regulation.
See OECD Steel Market Developments, Q2 2024, Table 7.
Including Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore.
See S&P Platts: “Turkish steel mills under pressure from low-priced Asian imports”
See Bloomberg: “China’s $8.5 Billion in Steel Spurs Latin America Toward Tariffs”
See OECD Steel trade and trade policy developments (Jul. – Dec. 2023), Table 1, to be read together with OECD Steel Market Developments, Q2 2024, Table 7.
See GMK: “In January-April, China increased steel exports by 27 percent”
https://gmk.center/en/news/china-increased-steel-exports-by-27-y-y-in-january-april/; see also S&P Global Commodity Insights - Platts, World Steel Review, Volume 24, Issue 19, May 8, 2024 (available upon subscription).
Vietnam increased its exports of the product concerned by +37 % in 2023 when compared to 2021, Malaysia by +535 % and Indonesia by +66 %. In the case of Vietnam, the largest exporter out of the origins assessed for this purpose, the increase in 2023 compared to the year with highest exports before 2021 (this is, 2018) was +334 %
Japan increased its exports by +106 % in 2023 when compared to 2021.
Korea (Republic of), which also saw pressure from China in its domestic market as well as on other exporting markets, also increased its presence on the Union market, although the increase was more moderate.
The evolution of imports from some of these origins into the Union is further developed in the context of the overcapacity analysis in Section 3.2.2.(d)
Main steel exporting countries of the product concerned to the Union.
This table is meant to give a general overview of consumption trends of some of the main product categories traded worldwide. The data does not reflect exactly the product concerned.
Data from 2022 is the latest available to the Commission from this source.
The trend including or excluding China from the calculation is largely comparable.
See recitals (49-54) of the Definitive Safeguard Regulation
See also recitals (38-43) of the First Prolongation Review Regulation and recital (87) of the 2023 Review Regulation.
See OECD: “Latest developments in steelmaking capacity and outlook until 2026”; and Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity: “Steel Exports, Trade Remedy Actions and Sources of Excess Capacity”
See 95th Session of the OECD Steel Committee - Chair's Statement.
See OECD: “Latest developments in steelmaking capacity and outlook until 2026”, Sections 2.4 and 4.
Ibid, Table 1, p.9
Source: CRU database for years 2017-2023 overcapacity figures compared to consumption and production. https://www.crugroup.com/analysis/steel/ (access under subscription).
See OECD: “Latest developments in steelmaking capacity and outlook until 2026”.
See and Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity: “Steel Exports, Trade Remedy Actions and Sources of Excess Capacity”
Ibid at paras. 12 and 13.
See OECD “Latest developments in steelmaking capacity and outlook until 2026”, Annex C.
See OECD Latest Developments in Steelmaking Capacity and Outlook Until 2026, Sections 2.4 and 3. See, also: https://gmk.center/en/news/chinese-xinxing-invests-2-billion-in-steel-plants-in-egypt/ ; https://news.metal.com/newscontent/102434658/Another-Chinese-steel-mills-made-its-way-to-overseas-For-Chinese-companies-looking-to-invest-overseas-what-are-critical-factors-to-watch-for;
These origins include: Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Imports from these origins increased by 344 % as compared to 2017, the last year before the safeguard measure was imposed.
See recitals (99) to (110) of Definitive Safeguard Regulation
See Section 3.1.2.(c) of the First Prolongation Review Regulation
Section 3.5 of the Third Functioning Review Regulation
See Section 4.1.2. of the 2023 Review Regulation
See “Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Protect U.S. Steel and Shipbuilding Industry from China’s Unfair Practices”, April 2024, indicating that “(…) this is a growing challenge that must be addressed to prevent Chinese and others’ steel exports from gaining access to the U.S. market and evading Section 232 or Section 301 tariffs. President Biden recently sent senior members of his administration to Mexico to address this issue”.
See also: Statement from USTR Spokesperson Adam Hodge, 9 December 2022; https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2022/december/statement-ustr-spokesperson-adam-hodge
See “Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Protect U.S. Steel and Shipbuilding Industry from China’s Unfair Practices”, April 2024; https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/17/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-protect-u-s-steel-and-shipbuilding-industry-from-chinas-unfair-practices/
See also ‘Fact Sheet: President Biden Takes Action to Protect American Workers and Businesses from China’s Unfair Trade Practices, 14 May 2024:
A specific assessment of TDI measures is conducted in Section 3.2.2. (f)
See S&P Platts: “
See announcement from Brazilian Government. “Gecex restores import tariffs for 5 steel NCMs”
See S&P Platts: “Türkiye restricts steel and aluminium exports to Israel”; In particular noting that “as Israel is one of Türkiye's top long steel export destinations, the restrictions could harm Turkish mills' export volumes and pricing”.
Exports from EU subject to TDI measures are not taken into account for this assessment.
See recitals (33-34) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1013 of 17 July 2018 imposing provisional safeguard measures with regard to imports of certain steel products (OJ L 181, 18.7.2018, p. 39), recitals (47-48) of the First Prolongation Review Regulation and recitals (64-66) of the 2023 Review Regulation.
In alphabetical order: China, Egypt, Korea (Republic of), India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Türkiye and Vietnam.
On the link between existing overcapacity and the evolution of trade defence actions, see the analysis undertaken by the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity: “Steel Exports, Trade Remedy Actions and Sources of Excess Capacity”, section 4.
See OECD Steel Committee Chair’s statement: “Growing concern about disruptions in steel trade. Members discussed the sudden surge in steel exports over the past year, particularly from China, where steel exports are currently running close to the peak levels seen in 2016. Indirect steel exports (steel-containing goods such as machinery and vehicles) from China are also on the rise. These developments risk triggering more instability and trade actions around the world.”
See OECD steel market developments Q2 2024, Table 7.
Source of raw data: Global Trade Atlas ‘GTA’. https://www.gtis.com/gta/. Figures pertaining to the year 2023, for exports from the main steel exporting countries to the Union: In alphabetical order: China, Egypt, Korea (Republic of), India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Türkiye and Vietnam.
See DG TRADE’s website for a complete list of measures imposed on steel imports since the imposition of the safeguard measure: https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/investigations/search
See as a recent example ‘Commission fights circumvention of tariffs on imports of cold-rolled stainless steel’: https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-fights-circumvention-tariffs-imports-cold-rolled-stainless-steel-2024-05-07_en
See OECD Steel Committee’s Chair Statement: https://www.oecd.org/industry/ind/95-oecd-steel-chair-statement.htm#:~:text=The%20combined%20effects%20of%20inflation,steel%20consuming%20sector%2C%20and%20investment
See Section 3.2. of the First Prolongation Review Regulation.
See OECD “Latest developments in steelmaking capacity and outlook until 2026”, Table 1, p.9.
See relevant section on adjustments in the open versions of the questionnaire replies from Union producers, available in TRON (https://tron.trade.ec.europa.eu/tron/TDI (accessible only by registered interested parties). In some instances, specific details pertaining to some adjustments may contain business confidential information and therefore are not available on the open version of the reply.
“thyssenkrupp Steel Executive Board reacts to challenging market conditions and presents initial conceptual outlines of a structural realignment” Source: thyssenkrupp-steel.com (11 April 2024) https://www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/thyssenkrupp-steel-executive-board-reacts-to-challenging-market-conditions-and-presents-initial-conceptual-outlines-of-a-structural-realignment.html
“Vallourec is winding down pipe production in Germany” Source: GMK (25 September 2023)
https://gmk.center/en/news/vallourec-is-winding-down-pipe-production-in-germany/
“thyssenkrupp shuts down the Galmed steel plant in Spain” Source: GMK (27 Novembre 2023) https://gmk.center/en/news/thyssenkrupp-shuts-down-the-galmed-steel-plant-in-spain/#:~:text=German%20concern%20Thyssenkrupp%20has%20announced,rolled%20galvanized%20coils%20per%20year
“Outokumpu plans restructuring measures in Germany to strengthen competitiveness and market leadership in advanced materials” Source: Otokumpu.com (7 November 2023) https://www.outokumpu.com/en/news/2023/outokumpu-plans-restructuring-measures-in-germany-to-strengthen-competitiveness-and-market-leadership-in-advanced-materials-3354404
See Table 1 of this Regulation.
See OECD “Latest developments in steelmaking capacity and outlook until 2026”, Table 1.
A trend of capacity reduction was exceptional, when compared to trends in other major steelmaking regions, which consistently increased capacity.
“Liberty Galati invested $8.9 million in a new pipe coating line” Source: GMK (11 May 2023) https://gmk.center/en/news/liberty-galati-invested-8-9-million-in-a-new-pipe-coating-line/
“ArcelorMittal plans to invest about $25 million in a galvanizing plant in Krakow” Source: GMK (11 April 2024)
“thyssenkrupp Steel puts together largest investment package in 20 years” Source: thyssenkrupp.com https://www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com/en/company/strategy-20-30/investments/investments.html (last accessed May 2024)
Other projects were reported by a great number of respondents to the EU questionnaires.
“Expansion of large diameter line at Tenaris’s mill in Italy lowers carbon emissions” Source: Tenaris.com (12 February 2021) https://www.tenaris.com/en/news/2021/expansion-of-large-diameter-line-in-italy-lowers-carbon-emissions
“thyssenkrupp Steel is starting a new production modernization project in Duisburg” Source: GMK (13 December 2023) https://gmk.center/en/news/thyssenkrupp-steel-is-starting-a-new-production-modernization-project-in-duisburg/
Other projects were reported by a great number of respondents to the EU questionnaires.
“Belgium: Showcasing the full spectrum of our decarbonisation technologies” Source: corporate.arcelormittal.com (last accessed May 2024) https://corporate.arcelormittal.com/climate-action/decarbonisation-investment-plans/belgium-showcasing-the-full-spectrum-of-our-decarbonisation-technologies
“Voestalpine produces worlds' first green wire rod a Donawitz plant” Source: GMK (11 April 2024) https://gmk.center/en/news/voestalpine-produces-worlds-first-green-wire-rod-at-donawitz-plant/
“ArcelorMittal plans major investments in German sites, to accelerate CO2 emissions reduction strategy and leverage the hydrogen grid”. Source: corporate.arcelormittal.com (29 March 2021) https://corporate.arcelormittal.com/media/news-articles/arcelormittal-plans-major-investment-in-german-sites-to-accelerate-co2-emissions-reduction-strategy-and-leverage-the-hydrogen-grid
“Aperam launches its new sustainability brand for all its near-zero* footprint premium products, related services and solutions ‘aperam infinite.TM” Source : www.eqs-news.com (23 September 2023) https://www.eqs-news.com/news/corporate/aperam-launches-its-new-sustainability-brand-for-all-its-near-zero-footprint-premium-products-related-services-and-solutions-aperam-infinite-tm/1907309
“SALCOS milestone reached – Salzgitter AG awards contract for direct reduction plant” Source: Salzgitter-ag.com (24 May 2023) https://www.salzgitter-ag.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/details/salcos-milestone-reached-salzgitter-ag-awards-contract-for-direct-reduction-plant-20791.html
“ArcelorMittal starts production of low carbon heavy steel plate in Spain” Source: fastmarkets.com (20 July 2023) https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/low-carbon-steel-production-arcelormittal-spain/
[^ntr105-L_202401782EN.000101-E0105]: See Communication from the Commission to the parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions – “Action Plan for a competitive and sustainable steel industry in Europe”, COM(2013) 407 final, where the Commission noted that ‘a strong and competitive steel sector is important for Europe’s industrial base’.
See also Commission Staff Working Document “Towards competitive and clean European steel”, SWD (2021) 353 final, 5.5.2021, which noted that “energy-intensive industries are indispensable to Europe’s economy and that other sectors rely on them” and that “the steel sector and other energy-intensive industries play a vital role in providing products and services to a wide-range of Europe’s industrial ecosystems”. The same document noted that “a robust industrial base is essential for Europe's economic growth, preservation of sustainable jobs and our competitiveness on global markets, and that a strong steel sector forms the basis of many industrial value chains”.
The Commission increased the TRQ volumes by 5 % upon imposition of a definitive measure in February 2019. Such top-up was not due to liberalisation.
See Section 7.5 of this Regulation.
See Section 5.2.2. of First Prolongation Review Regulation.
The Union safeguard measure takes the form of a TRQ and thus significant volumes are allowed free-of-duty.
See, as reference, S&P Global Commodity Insights, Platts market price assessments (available upon subscription). The markets assessed include the Union, USA, China, Türkiye, Mexico and India and the products assessed are hot-rolled flat products, hot-dipped galvanised, rebar and wire rod.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/104 of 12 January 2023 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 imposing a definitive safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products following a report adopted by the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body; OJ L 12, 13.1.2023, p. 7.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1301 of 26 June 2023 amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 imposing a definitive safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products.
See, for instance, Section 3.5 of the Third Review Regulation.
See Section 7.10 of the First Prolongation Review Regulation and Section 4.1.8 of the 2023 Review Regulation.
Regulation (EU) 2015/477 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2015 on measures that the Union may take in relation to the combined effect of anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures with safeguard measures; OJ L 83, 27.3.2015, p. 11.
See Case T-790-19 Novolipetsk Steel PAO v. Commission
Some of these product categories where some TRQs were being exhausted are particularly relevant in terms of volumes (both overall and relative to their product family). They include product category 1 (hot-rolled flat) accounting for 31% of imports in 2023, 4A and 4B (metallic coated sheets) accounting for 8% and 7% of imports in 2023, 16 (wire rod) accounting for 8% of imports in 2023. These categories are in the top-6 of categories by import volume.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/664 of 21 April 2022 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 imposing a definitive safeguard measure against imports of certain steel products.
See recitals (27) to (47) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159.
Appellate Body Report, Argentine – Safeguard Measures on Imports of Footwear (WT/DS121/AB/R), 14 December 1999, para. 113.
See recital (33) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/894 of 29 June 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 imposing definitive safeguard measures against imports of certain steel products, OJ L 206, 30.6.2020, p. 27: “Lastly, the Commission also notes that the reference period used to calculate the TRQs constitutes one of the pillars in the design of the measures set ab initio by the Definitive Safeguard Regulation, and that the scope of the Review does not cover the substantial modification of the basic structure of the measures”.
See for instance the possibility to access the residual TRQ in the last quarter of a safeguard year (April-June).
The EU safeguard year starts on 1 July of a given year and ends on 30 June of the following year.
See Section 3.2.3 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/894 of 29 June 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 imposing definitive safeguard measures against imports of certain steel Products.
Oct-Dec 2023, Jan-Mar 2024, Apr-Jun 2024.
The TRQ volume initially available can be found in Annex I (IV.1) to this Regulation.
Starting on the quarter Oct-Dec 2023.
Period Jan 2021 to June 2023.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1301 of 26 June 2023 amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 imposing a definitive safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products.
Source: Eurostat
Article 7.4 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.
Article 19(4) of the Basic Safeguard Regulation.
The liberalisation level was reduced from the announced 5% to 3% in the First Functioning Review of September 2019, and it was increased from 3% to 4% as a result of the Third Functioning Review in June 2022.
World Steel Association – Short Range Outlook (SRO) April 2024
See Section 3.2.1. regarding evolution of consumption on the Union market.
See Section 3.2.2.(b) of this Regulation on TRQ use.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1832 of 12 October 2021 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 385, 29.10.2021, p. 1–1091).
A total of 21 CN codes were closed and 14 CN codes were added.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1301 of 26 June 2023 amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159 imposing a definitive safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products.
01/07/2023-30/09/2023 and 01/10/2023-31/12/2023.
European Commission’s Directorate General for Taxations and Customs Union.
Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1).
ANNEX I
“ANNEX IV
IV.1 – Volumes of tariff–rate quotas
Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published in the Official Journal of the European Union. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original to this format.
This text is published under EUR-Lex's own terms of reuse, not a Legalize or public-domain licence.
EUR-Lex
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
© European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu — Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the European Union). Reused under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Only EU legislation published in the printed Official Journal of the European Union is deemed authentic; consolidated texts are reproduced here for documentation purposes and have been reformatted to Markdown.