In a joint statement, Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) and Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) criticized new measures taken this week by the European Union (EU) to limit steel imports from Mercosur countries.
The statement said the changes would limit access to the European market and would not address the problem of overcapacity in the global steel industry.
The EU has adopted new quantitative restrictions on imports of steel products and increases in tariffs on imports in excess of established quotas.
From Brazil's perspective, these measures affect most of the bloc's trading partners and increase barriers to exports even after the end of the protective system created in 2018.
Brazil also said it was suffering from a global steel glut and would continue to advocate for multilateral solutions to the problem in international forums. The statement added that "restricting trade with countries that are not responsible for the global oversupply does not solve the problem and could provoke an escalation of trade protection measures."
The EU has granted Brazil an annual quota of 227,000 metric tons of finished steel products, while slabs and billets will remain exempt from import taxes.
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