The European Union decreed sanctions of 50% against low-price steel imports, which primarily targets Chinese steel exports to Europe. Claimed to support steel producers in Europe, which presently run at only two-thirds of their capacity and produce 37 million tons annually now. The steel sector of Europe has been drastically downsized in recent years due to a lack of demand for bigger infrastructure development. It cannot switch to an output substantially above those 37 million tons, it will continue to depend on imports from China.
And whether employment will increase after this EU decree remains to be seen. Germany’s leading steel producer ThyssenKrupp wholeheartedly supports the EU sanctions, but has not revealed whether it will take back its decision to lay off 11,000 of its 26,000 workers.
