【By Guan察者网, Yuan Jiaqi】
This month, the European Union followed the United States and Canada in imposing tariffs on imported steel. Media generally interpreted this move as "clearly targeting China." However, Britain started to wail first, crying that the country's steel industry would face "the biggest crisis in history".
Aside from seeking explanations from the EU, Britain also came up with some tricks. According to a report by the Financial Times on the 27th, Chris Bryant, the UK's Minister of State for Trade at the Department for Business and Trade (at the deputy minister level), said in an interview that the British government is seeking to form a "steel alliance" with the US and the EU to protect the three sides' steel industries from so-called "overcapacity" impacts. British media pointed out that the West often propagates the "overcapacity" theory to falsely accuse China.
The report stated that theoretically, the "steel alliance" of the UK, US, and EU would impose a unified tariff on all products imported from outside the group, while allowing member states within the alliance to trade steel with zero or very low tariffs.
Bryant said, "We are continuously discussing how to proceed with this, including whether to establish a trilateral alliance or a bilateral one. If it's bilateral, with which party should we cooperate?"
Although Bryant said that the discussions have not yet entered the stage of drafting written proposals, he claimed that forming a "steel alliance" among the UK, US, and EU is a "natural response" to global steel industry challenges.
"We three agree that there is a 'surplus capacity' issue in global steel. For economic security reasons, such as defense needs like tank manufacturing, we all need to maintain self-controlled steel production capacity," he said.
In response, a spokesperson for the UK government said, "After the EU announced the relevant measures, we are continuing to communicate with them. At the same time, we are working with international partners to seek solutions to address the broader issue of 'overcapacity'."
According to a report by Politico Europe, several insiders revealed that the UK is pushing for the establishment of a "Western Steel Alliance" with the EU to curb China's dominance in the global steel market.
The report mentioned that after Brexit, the UK was in a passive position in EU trade actions. London hopes to avoid the new EU tariffs through coordinated actions of the alliance.
A senior EU official who previously defended the new regulations said that they are open to dialogue with the UK and called for both sides to sit down and negotiate.
Another EU official said that the idea of establishing a "steel alliance" has existed for "a considerable period of time" and is now "more attractive." He added that the EU and the UK have already cooperated in multilateral platforms such as the "Global Steel Excess Capacity Forum," and both sides have agreed to coordinate the upcoming carbon tax on imported steel and other high-pollution manufacturing processes.
Steel factory of UK Steel, Oriental IC
On October 7 local time, the European Commission announced that to protect the EU from the impact of "unfair global overcapacity," it will restrict the amount of steel imports that can be imported duty-free starting next year, cutting the import quota in half, and imposing an additional 50% tariff on the excess.
Upon the release of the news, the British steel industry collectively lamented, claiming that this move could lead to the industry facing "the biggest crisis in history." According to BBC reports, the EU is the most important export destination for British steel, worth nearly 3 billion pounds, accounting for 78% of the overseas market share of British steel products.
British media said that before this, Trump's high tariffs had severely hit British companies, leading to serious financial crises for several companies. The EU's latest move is another heavy blow to the British steel industry.
Bryant told the Financial Times that the UK is conducting "constructive discussions" with Brussels and has bilateral consultations with major EU member states, including Germany, hoping to secure preferential treatment for British exporters when the new mechanism comes into effect in July next year.
A EU official revealed that the EU is negotiating with trade partners on the allocation of quotas under the new mechanism, and the UK will receive "priority consideration." Bryant added that regardless of whether the quota is increased or specific steel products are exempted, he is "quite confident" that the UK will eventually get "better than usual treatment."
He continued, "Of course, if we successfully establish some kind of 'steel protection circle' or 'steel alliance,' these negotiations may not need to proceed. It must be said that this feels very much like the situation in the 1950s, when Europe was also talking about a steel agreement." British media explained that this refers to the 1951 establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community by six countries: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, which eliminated tariffs and other taxes on steel trade between member states.
It is worth noting that during the Biden administration in 2021, the EU and the US announced the suspension of the steel and aluminum tariff dispute and initiated discussions on a global cooperation arrangement, involving issues such as addressing "excess capacity" and setting carbon intensity standards, aiming to restore transatlantic trade, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement.
Regarding the possibility of the UK, US, and EU forming a "steel alliance" in the future, Gareth Stace, the director general of the UK Steel Association, naturally welcomed it.
He claimed, "The formation of an alliance by like-minded countries will be a breakthrough measure to address the global overcapacity problem, while also preventing heavily subsidized steel products from impacting the already fragile steel industries of developed countries."
The German Ministry of Economics also stated in a statement that there is a "fundamental common interest" between Germany and the UK in dealing with the global steel "overcapacity," and that the EU and the UK emphasized the necessity of jointly addressing the issue in a statement from August last year, and both sides plan to further discuss it.
According to reports, the UK itself is also preparing new steel safeguards and plans to announce its future steel tariff plan after the current safeguard measures expire in June 2026. Currently, the plan imposes a 25% tariff on 14 types of steel products exceeding the quota.
Bryant said that the UK's related plans will "soon" be introduced and admitted that advancing these measures "has a certain sense of urgency."
According to data from the European Steel Federation (Eurofer), the EU imported 28 million tons of steel in 2024, accounting for a quarter of total sales, which is twice the import volume of the 2012/13 season (when China became the main exporter).
Additionally, due to the U.S. tariff policy, the EU expects its annual steel exports to the U.S. of 3.8 million tons to significantly decrease. France and ten other EU member states, including Italy and Spain, hope to introduce similar U.S. "melting and casting" rules to prevent Chinese steel from bypassing tariffs through third countries entering the EU market.
Reuters cited analysts predicting that China's steel exports this year will set a new record high, with a growth rate of 4% to 9%, and the total export volume may reach 115 million to 120 million tons.
The Financial Times previously pointed out that even before Trump imposed a 50% tariff on steel products exported to the EU earlier this year, the European steel industry was already struggling due to competition from Chinese imports and high energy prices. Trump's tariffs on other countries also raised concerns about more low-cost steel products flooding the EU market from the U.S. market.
Since early September, some European steel manufacturers, under the pressure of cheap Chinese products and Trump's high tariffs, urged Brussels to impose tariffs similar to those of the U.S. on all imported steel products and warned that the industry faced the risk of collapse.
Regarding Sino-European relations, China has consistently emphasized that China's development and openness bring opportunities, not risks, to Europe and the world. Protectionism cannot solve the EU's problems; it protects backwardness and loses the future. China and the EU are each other's second-largest trading partners and are important forces in building an open world economy. They should resolve specific trade and economic issues through dialogue and consultation.
This article is exclusive to Guan察者网, and unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7566080076480004660/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author and readers are welcome to express their opinions by clicking on the 【Like/Dislike】 buttons below.