Germany's largest steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG has called for protection for local producers amid the threat of industry collapse due to US President Donald Trump's tariffs and cheap Chinese products, the Financial Times reported, citing the company's top executive Ilse Henne.
“We need protection, otherwise we will not survive as a steel industry“, Henne told the newspaper, stressing that key sectors of European industry, such as the automotive industry, rely on steel.
Henne spoke in favor of imposing tariffs on steel imported into the EU, but, the newspaper reported, declined to say how much they would be enough to save the industry.
Financial The Times points out that the European steel industry was already struggling before Trump's tariffs were imposed, but it was the tariffs on other countries, including China, that raised concerns that the EU market would be flooded with large quantities of cheap metal diverted from US markets.
According to the newspaper, the European Commission tried to get the US to reduce US tariffs on steel and aluminium as part of the trade deal, but failed.
“It is highly doubtful that any (tariff quotas) or significant concessions will be granted by the US in the near future, if at all... In fact, the EU steel industry is in a worse state than other EU industries“, the Financial Times quotes a letter from the European Steel Association (Eurofer) sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in September.
Earlier, the Financial Times, citing unnamed European officials, reported that the EU was preparing emergency measures to support aluminum production due to the negative impact of tariffs imposed by the United States.