29 September 2025 – Last week, the European Commission imposed definitive final anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled flat products (HRC) of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel from Egypt, Japan, and Vietnam.
HRC: Result of EU anti-dumping investigation announced
Last week, the European Commission imposed definitive final anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel from Egypt (11.7%), Japan (up to 30%), and Vietnam (12.1%). The Commission justified this by citing massive dumping practices that had undermined the competitiveness of European primary steelmakers.
But it is precisely small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that require HRC as a pre-product, for example in automotive supply, mechanical engineering or construction, that are once again likely to be disadvantaged in their competitiveness.
Criticism: Commission ignores market reality
In its reasoning, the Commission refers to sufficient capacity of HRC among European producers and expects no supply shortages. Once again, however, the Commission has delivered only a qualitative assessment, without providing robust modelling of price effects or the delivery capabilities of domestic steel mills. Participants in the proceedings had already warned that higher costs along the value chain threatened to affect millions of jobs in downstream processing and end-user industries.
SMEs structurally disadvantaged in trade defence measures
For SMEs, this exacerbates a structural problem: they neither have the market power to pass higher steel prices on to customers, nor can they benefit from price reductions based on large-volume purchases (economies of scale). Anti-dumping duties only protect upstream production but risk undermining competitiveness downstream.
Commission acts only in favour of steelmakers
Once again, the Commission has followed an industrial policy reflex in favour of domestic steelworks and underestimated the burden for thousands of SMEs in key industries. For these companies, every percentage increase in input costs can be the deciding factor between profitability and relocation. Whether the balance between protection and harm has really been maintained here must therefore once again be called into question.
Investigaton against India dropped
The investigation against India were dropped – something that may well be considered politically motivated. The EU is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with India, and the embattled EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič wants to finalise this agreement by the end of 2025.
We have already seen what happens when an EU Commissioner wants to push something through under pressure, with former EU Commissioner for Climate Action Frans Timmermans and his favourite project, the Green Deal.
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