The US and European Union are working on an agreement that would introduce new tariffs aimed at excess steel production from China and other countries, as well as put behind them a Trump-era trade conflict, Report informs via Bloomberg.
The levies would primarily be focused on imports from China that benefit from non-market practices, according to people familiar with the discussions, who said talks were ongoing. The scope of the measures, including other countries that could be targeted and the level of the tariffs, are still being discussed. It’s also expected to provide a framework for other nations to join in the future.
The agreement would be part of the so-called Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum that the EU and the Biden administration have been negotiating since 2021. The talks are aimed at settling a dispute that started when President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on metals imports from Europe, citing risks to national security.
The US has imposed a 25% tariff on the imports since 2018 and the EU applies about the same level of duty on an array of steel imports under its own safeguard measures.
In 2021, the two sides agreed to pause punitive measures on each other’s goods and set a deadline of Oct. 31 this year for finding a permanent solution to the dispute. After that, Trump-era tariffs and EU retaliatory measures would automatically return on more than $10 billion of exports unless the two sides extend the current truce.
The deal under discussion would likely be an interim one, according to one of the people, because it won’t address all the outstanding matters in the overall arrangement, including taxing carbon-intensive imports.
The Office of the US Trade Representative declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the European Commission said both sides are committed to finding a solution before the deadline. Any agreement must be in compliance with the two sides’ international obligations, including World Trade Organization rules, the spokeswoman added.
EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said Wednesday that the commission is in “intense engagement with the US both at political and experts level, working on conclusion of this global sustainable agreement.” An agreement “is still within reach” by the deadline, he added.