EU makes final safeguard review ruling on imported steel products

On May 29, 2024, the WTO Committee on Safeguards issued a safeguard notification submitted to it by the EU Delegation on May 28th.

The European Commission issued a notice stating that it intends to make a final safeguard review ruling on imported steel products (Certain Steel Products).

And proposes to continue to implement a two-year safeguard measure in the form of a quota on the products in question for a period of two years starting from July 1, 2024, i.e., a safeguard duty of 25% will be imposed on out-of-quota imports of steel products.

With a 1% increase in the quota volume each year. The measure is valid until June 30, 2026, when it will be terminated.

This case involves EU CN (Common Nomenclature) codes 7208 10 00, 7209 15 00, 7209 16 10, 7210 20 00, 7210 70 80, 7209 18 99, 7208 51 20, 7219 11 00, 7219 31 00, 7214 30 00, 7214 20 00, 7222 11 11, 7221 00 10, 7213 10 00, 7216 31 10, 7301 10 00, 7306 30 41, 7306 61 10, 7304 11 00, 7304 51 12, 7305 11 00, 7306 11 10, and 7217 10 10, among other steel products.

The table below is my summary of all the steel products under the codes mentioned in this EU review.

HS code	PRODUCT NAME
7208 10 00	Patterned hot rolled coils
7209 15 00	Cold rolled coils of high strength with thickness ≥3mm
7209 16 10	High-strength cold rolled coils of 3mm > thickness > 1mm
7210 20 00	Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, plated or coated with lead
7210 70 80	Flat-rolled products of iron or nonalloy steel, of a width of 600mm or more, painted or plasticized, nes
7209 18 99	0.5mm > Thickness ≥0.3mm Cold rolled coils of non-alloy steel
7208 51 20	50mm ≥ Thickness >20mm, not in coils, not hot rolled, nes
7219 11 00	Thickness ＞10mm hot rolled stainless steel coil
7219 31 00	Thickness ≥4.75mm Cold rolled stainless steel sheet
7214 30 00	Hot-worked bars and rods of free-cutting steels
7214 20 00	Hot-worked bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel
7222 11 11	Hot-worked stainless steel bars and rods with round cross-section
7221 00 10	Stainless steel hot rolled bars and rods
7213 10 00	Hot rolled coils made of iron or non-alloy steel
7216 31 10	Channels with cross-section height ≥80mm
7301 10 00	Steel sheet piles
7306 30 41	Tubes & pipes, of iron or non-alloy steel, with welded seams, of circular cross-section, external diameter >10mm, nes
7306 61 10	Pipes with welded seams, of rectangular or square cross-section, nes
7304 11 00	Stainless steel piping tube
7304 51 12	Cold-rolled seamless boiler tubes of other alloy steel
7305 11 00	Longitudinal submerged arc welded oil and gas crude steel pipe
7306 11 10	Stainless Steel Welded Oil & Gas Pipeline Tubes
7217 10 10	Iron or non-alloy steel wire, unplated or uncoated

On March 26, 2018, the European Commission initiated a safeguard investigation on imported steel products.

On January 4, 2019, the WTO Committee on Safeguards issued a notification of final safeguard measures submitted by the EU Delegation on January 2, 2019, deciding to impose a safeguard duty of 25% on out-of-quota imports of steel products by February 4, 2019.

On February 26, 2021, the European Commission initiated a safeguard review investigation on steel products.

2021 On June 11, 2021, the WTO Committee on Safeguards released the safeguard notification submitted to it by the EU Delegation, and the European Commission issued a public notice stating that it had made a final safeguard review ruling on imported iron and steel products and that it would continue to apply safeguard measures in the form of quotas on the products involved for a period of three years starting from July 1, 2021, i.e.

To impose a 25% safeguard duty on out-of-quota A safeguard duty of 25% is imposed on imported iron and steel products, with the quota volume increasing by 3% per year.

The measure is valid until June 30, 2024. On February 9, 2024, the European Commission initiated a safeguard review investigation on steel products to assess whether the safeguard measures currently in place on certain steel products should be extended beyond the June 30, 2024 expiration date.