EU Opens Investigation on Extending Steel Industry Safeguards

The European Commission initiated an investigation to assess whether to extend beyond June 30 safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products. The investigation, announced in a Feb. 26 news release, will explore whether the measures continue to be necessary to protect the EU steel industry. In effect since July 2018, the safeguard measures include tariff-rate quotas above which a 25% duty is levied. Companies and individuals have 15 days to publish comments on the safeguard measures, and the commission will issue questionnaires to insdustry stakeholders, the release said. Member states will ultimately vote on the proposal, with a final decision before the end of June.