Developments during last 18 months in the field of steel trade policy and steel trade cases as well as statements of latest G20 Meeting regarding Global Steel, are of nature to reassess EUROMETAL position on free and fair steel trade in the light of these developments and statements.
EUROMETAL position on WTO principles:
As embodied in the Marrakesh Agreement establishing World Trade Organization (WTO), the official primary guiding principles of free and fair trade are the following:
- Non-discrimination between WTO member trading partners and non-discrimination by a WTO member country between its own and foreign products, services and nationals.
- More open markets for all WTO members, by eliminating or lowering trade barriers such as customs duties, import bans, “buy local” provisions, selective quotas.
- Predictability and transparency regarding international trade policy, meaning no arbitrary trade measures and providing planning safety to all actors involved in international trade.
- Discouraging unfair competition, by banning unfair trade practices such as subsidizing and dumping and by promoting fair trade rules.
EUROMETAL fully supports these basic rules in order to promote global steel supply chains and international steel trade.
As we have seen especially over last decades, main customer segments of steel users are continuously developing their supply chains into a more and more global and interlinked steel supply network.
These main customer segments of main steel end use sectors are:
- Automotive
- White Goods
- Yellow Goods
- Oil & Gas Exploration and Production
- Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Industry
- Packaging
EUROMETAL is aware that global overcapacities in steel are of nature to disrupt steel trade flows, with spiraling moves towards protectionism, unfair trade practices and retaliating trade measures and, as a consequence, raising uncertainty and volatility in global steel markets.
In the interest of its members, EUROMETAL aims to support predictability, transparency, planning reliability and fair trade rules in all matters pertaining to global steel supply chains and international steel trade.
The following considerations regarding global steel supply chains and international steel trade shall inform and guide EUROMETAL’s action:
- Steel distributors and traders play their role in the Value Chain between domestic steel producers, imports and steel end users. It is of any interest that trade and business rules are fair and promote the value generation across the steel supply chains.
- Steel distributors, traders and steel end users have a basic common interest in open and fair market conditions, in order to benefit from a reliable steel trade for all kinds of steel products and tailor made final applications.
- Steel distributors, steel traders and steel end users have a basic common interest in avoiding price volatility. Effective steel supply chains are based on planning reliability and predictability, including the pricing of steel supplies, either from home market or from import sources.
- Dumped price conditions must be avoided. They distort the steel supply chains because they encourage price volatility and compromise the balance between real consumption and apparent consumption.
- Steel distributors, steel traders and steel end users support a timely settlement of steel trade cases, aiming for a fair global competition, avoiding oligopolistic or even monopolistic positions in steel markets, by taking effective market shares situations into account.