Eurofer: the European Union response
“We will not allow Donald Trump to snatch away the recovery we have been chasing for so long” …is the statement by Van Poelvoorde, Eurofer president and CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe.
While Eurofer’s intention to pursue the path of negotiation to the end remains firm, it is necessary to focus on a plan B in the event that reasoning should fail … a hypothesis that cannot be discarded with Trump.
The European Union must therefore be ready to respond in kind and with swift decision, ideally within a month, obviously remaining within the rules dictated by the WTO (World Trade Organization)
Van Poelvoorde (Eurofer):
“I was stunned when I heard the news of the US tariffs. The same surprise you get when you are hit by a friend for no reason. On top of that, what worries us most is that of the 35 million tonnes that will not go to the US, some 13 million could be added to the 40 million tonnes arriving in Europe in 2017. Europe has larger import volumes than the US, but unilateral initiatives cannot be the answer. The problem is created by overcapacity, so the EU and the US, which are exempt, must work together to find a solution»
Trump’s measure is being harshly condemned by the entire European industrial and economic scenario, not least because of the potential 10,000 jobs that could be put at risk … a dramatic scenario that will certainly push (and we hope) the European Union to defend to the bitter end the minimal hints of recovery that we have been chasing for too long now.
