We demand that European workers are protected from unfair international trade.

The European stainless-steel sector, which supports 100,000 jobs, is at risk due to Indonesia producing cheap stainless steel thanks to interference from subsidised Chinese state-owned steel companies and Indonesian domestic subsides.

These products are flooding the EU market and Indonesia’s import share of hot rolled flat products has increased from 0% (2017) to a massive 18.2% (2018).

European trade unions have demanded European Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, take urgent action and include Indonesia in a revised list of ‘’developing’’ countries, allowing European safeguard measures to enter force as soon as possible. The next planned review in July 2019 is simply too far away and European jobs are at risk.

Luis Colunga, Deputy General Secretary of industriAll Europe, said:

“We demand that European workers are protected from unfair international trade. Indonesia has an unfair advantage due to massive amounts of state aid and their lower production costs are distorting stainless steel prices worldwide. We cannot sit back and let European workers suffer, we need proper safeguard measures and the European Commission must take urgent action now!’’

Notes for the editor:

Click here to read industriAll European Trade Union letter (with Eurofer) to Commissioner Malmström.

The European Commission’s definitive safeguards measures entered force on 2 February 2019 replacing the provisional measures which were in place since July 2018.

The definitive safeguard measures include 26 steel product categories and consist of tariff-rate quotas above which a duty of 25% will apply.

IndustriAll Europe lobbied for fair and just European safeguard measures following the import duties applied by the United States from 23 March 2018 under Section 232 (the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962).

IndustriAll Europe also took part in the European Commission’s official investigation which resulted in the definitive safeguard measures.