EU considers US duties artificially high

The European Commission said on Friday that it regrets the US decision to impose anti-dumping measures on steel plates exported from Europe, adding that duties were "artificially high."

The US Department of Commerce decided to impose duties of up to 148 percent on plates from seven manufacturers from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, prompting Germany to urge the EU to file a complaint with the WTO.

The EU Commission is actively supporting European exporters, the spokesman said. “Unfortunately, there are remarks, and in particular, regarding the use by the US of methodologies that artificially inflate preliminary anti-dumping measures,” said the spokesman.

The final duties were in many cases higher than the provisional duties set in November. “We will be looking into the details of the US decision right now and looking at the appropriate steps,” he continued.