ArcelorMittal gets protection

APPLICATION: IMPOSITION OF FAIR-TRADE REMEDIES WON'T IMPACT DOWNSTREAM JOBS'

- Amanda Visser

SA Iron and Steel Institute claim surge of imports is causing material harm.

A sudden, sharp and significant rise in imports of hot-rolled steel products has resulted in a 9% temporary safeguard tariff against imports from all countries except for a number of developing countries.

Several players in the downstream market claim that the safeguard measure on top of an existing customs duty of 10% will seriously impact their competitiveness and sustainability.

The South African Iron and Steel Institute brought the application for a safeguard provision on behalf of ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa), claiming the surge of imports is causing the local producer material harm.

A safeguard duty is generally an emergency measure under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Safeguards. The main purpose is to prevent harm and injury to a domestic industry when faced with a sharp unforeseen surge in imports.

Oversupply fuels 'aggressive export strategies'

The International ministration Commission (Itac). looked at the period 1 July, 2020 to 30 June, 2023 during its investigation. The data indicated an increase of 105% in total imports of the product under investigation during that period.

Amsa argued that SA did not foresee the unprecedented steep rate of increase in crude steel and hot-rolled steel production capacity during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations for tariff increases.