Japan attacks new EU steel import restrictions

Japan's steel industry has reacted angrily to the European Union's new steel import restriction regime which took effect on July 1, calling the measures inappropriate and regrettable and calling on the Japanese government to take action to persuade the European Commission to alter its stance.

Under the new regime, the EU has opened duty-free tariff quotas totalling about 18.3 million tonnes across 26 steel product categories and sets out country-specific quota allocations for eligible exporting countries. Imports exceeding the allocated quotas are subject to a 50% out-of-quota duty, compared with 25% under the previous