3 July 2025 – CBAM: Commission launches next step in envy battle over carbon border tax. Chinese steel association CISA calls for export restrictions on steel slabs. EU stainless steel mills flood domestic market with Indonesian stainless steel slabs. No-confidence vote against EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
CBAM: Next step in envy battle launched
The European Commission has launched public consultations on a possible extension of the Carbon Border Tax CBAM to imports from the downstream sector in a so-called Have your say procedure.
We cannot understand the calls by some SME associations to their members to now campaign for other companies in Europe to suffer the same disadvantages from CBAM as they themselves do.
Instead of looking for stooges to approach stakeholders and start a jealous knife fight for even more CBAM, which in the end will only confirm the Commission’s course for even more market protection, it would be much more sensible and targeted to work on getting rid of CBAM altogether.
CISA: Chinese steel association calls for export restrictions on steel slabs
The steel makers’ association CISA has asked the Chinese government to impose export restrictions on steel slabs. Exports have risen significantly since the beginning of 2025 and are damaging domestic steel production, it said.
Steel makers worldwide often use steel slabs as cheap raw materials and roll them into hot rolled coil (HRC), for example, after importing them. This behaviour can also be observed in Europe.
EU steel makers import millions of tonnes of slabs per year
For years, EU steel makers have been importing millions of tonnes of slabs, mainly from Russia (approx. 50% market share). However, European stainless steel mills are also increasingly purchasing cheap slabs, thereby regularly circumventing the EU’s trade defence measures against stainless steel imports from Indonesia. In the first four months of 2025 alone, domestic mills imported more than 60,000 tonnes of Indonesian slabs, replacing the United Kingdom as the main supplier.
No-confidence vote against EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula von der Leyen, the current President of the European Commission, will face a no-confidence vote in the EU Parliament next week at the request of a group of 74 members of the European Parliament. The vote of no confidence essentially concerns allegations against Ursula von der Leyen’s coronavirus policy and the non-transparent pharmaceutical deal.
Accusations regarding Corona policy and lack of transparency
The applicants accuse von der Leyen and the Commission of refusing to disclose information about text messages exchanged between von der Leyen and the head of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer during the coronavirus crisis. In this case, the EU Court recently ruled that this had been done without sufficient legal justification.
Contrary to claims made by various media outlets that the applicants are representatives of extreme right-wing parties, the majority of the motion’s supporters can be classified as right-wing conservatives. The complete list, which we were able to view, actually includes members of the European Parliament from countries that come from a completely different political spectrum.
Once again, it is clear how the mainstream media is attempting to influence public opinion. Now Europe can show whether it is still capable of democracy.
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