EU lawmakers back near halving of duty-free steel imports and raised tariffs

BRUSSELS, May 19 (Reuters) - The European Parliament approved on Thursday limits to duty-free steel imports into ?the European Union in a move designed ‌to protect the bloc's steel sector and increase its capacity utilisation to 80%.

EU lawmakers voted by 606 ?to 16 in favour of the ?measures, with 39 abstentions. The measures are ?to take effect from July 1.

• The EU ?will reduce its tariff-free steel imports by 47% ?from 2024 levels to 18.3 million metric tons per year
• For volumes above that level, tariffs of 50% will ?apply, up from a current 25%.
• The EU ?will apply stricter rules on "melt and pour" traceability to ‌determine ?where the steel is originally from and avoid circumvention of tariffs.
• The European Commission will set quantities of duty-free steel per country by July ?1. Lawmakers ?say the ?measures are designed to shield the EU from overproduction, but some ?have expressed support for maintaining higher ?volumes ?for Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia's invasion for over four years.
• Last year, the main ?sources ?of steel imports into the ?EU were Turkey, South Korea, Indonesia, China, India, Ukraine, and ?Taiwan.