Biden Mends Fences, With EU On Metal Exports
On the side-lines of G20 Summit in Rome, there is another news captured by media. Contrary to Trump’s “America First” policy, to confront China’s economic practices which led to massive excess production capacity in steel, Biden looks to mend fences with EU allies, though it looks like a pause to an ongoing dispute. US President Joe Biden and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the agreement to allow greater imports of EU steel and aluminium. This is an agreement for two years, the Trump-era tariffs will remain but only for imports of the metals exceeding set quotas. There was a drop of 50% since Trump imposed tariffs, this move is expected to change the figures to a certain extend. In addition to the 1.1 million tonnes already granted as exclusions to the tariffs, the revised quota will be 3.3 million tonnes of steel annually. Therefore the overall quota would be equivalent to exports in the 2015-2017 period, before tariffs were imports. Further 18,000 tonnes ...