Royal Metal Union call to cabinet: Anti-dumping levy on steel must be off the table soon

In a letter to the European commission, Orgalim, the European representative of the metalworking industry, argues that the anti-dumping duty on some steel products should be quickly removed. All European companies deserve to be protected from unfair competition. Orgalim already did not believe that anti-dumping duties were the right way to counter this. However, suspending the levies has now become extra urgent "Suspending the levies or, at the very least, further increasing the quotas, is crucial for the competitive position of the European technological industry. And therefore also for the Dutch SME manufacturing industry," says Fried Kaanen, president of Koninklijke Metaalunie.

The levy was instituted in July 2018, but now threatens to backfire. Prices have risen sharply in recent years. That prompted Orgalim, back in December 2021, to ask the European Commission to examine the necessity of the levy. So at the time, this was independent of the war in Ukraine. That war, however, has made it even more urgent that the levies be scrutinized. Prices continue to rise, delivery times increase and availability of certain materials becomes a major risk. Under normal circumstances, Ukraine and Russia account for 23% of European steel imports. In recent weeks, buying steel has become increasingly difficult. Importing steel from Russia is no longer allowed and several producers in Ukraine have been forced to stop production.

Cry of alarm toward cabinet

Orgalim is now asking for the suspension, temporary or otherwise, of anti-dumping duties on steel. Koninklijke Metaalunie is a member of Orgalim and calls on the Dutch government to support the submitted request. "Metaalunie is not fundamentally opposed to European 'anti-dumping' policy. It is important to keep the European steel market competitive against 'cheap' countries such as China and India," said Kaanen. "But last year's extension of import measures greatly strengthens the negative effects of the current overstrained steel market: even higher rising prices and huge shortages of steel products. To this is now added the war in Ukraine. The current market conditions are putting strong pressure on recovery and growth of manufacturing companies."

High steel prices, materials not available

Kaanen: "More sales do not mean that everything is going well: material prices have risen enormously, but perhaps even more annoying is that various metals are simply not available. This leads to major problems in the production chain." Many SME manufacturing companies are under great stress because profitability has come under severe pressure and delivery times are getting longer. "The materials problem has a number of causes. Geopolitical tension, disruption of chains due to the pandemic, but also the European anti-dumping policy on steel. Regarding the latter: this government intervention disproportionately affects the pricing and trade flows of metal," Kaanen said.

Metaalunie obviously realizes that the resulting (geopolitical) situation is not easy to solve. However, the situation is so dire that Metaalunie is raising it with the cabinet.