Ma
y
8, 2007
EU Cuts Aluminum Tariffs
Lowering Barrier
Is Step in Move
For Cheaper Imports
By JOHN W. MILLER
M
ay 8, 2007; Page A8
BRUSSELS -- A European Union decision to cut import tariffs on
raw aluminum shows the bloc's increasing focus on securing cheap
imports rather than protecting commodity industries, according to
EU officials and trade lawyers.
In a vote yesterday, EU ministers cut the import tariffs on aluminum to 3% from 6%, providing a
lift to Russian suppliers such as United Company Rusal. Russia is by far the EU's biggest supplier
of raw aluminum. After two years, the EU is to review whether to eliminate the tariffs altogether.
The move has been in the works since eight former
communist-bloc countries joined the EU in 2004. The new
members previously had no tariffs on aluminum imports
from Russia, which supplied their producers of car wheels,
window frames, airplane parts and other value-added goods.
They have lobbied hard to get the 6% barrier removed.
The tariff cut "is part of a wider trend of helping companies
that add value and retailers," said Laurent Ruessmann, a
lawyer based in Brussels with U.S. law firm Sidley Austin
LLP. An EU trade official confirmed that the bloc is
increasingly focused on supporting value-added industries.
Like Japan and the U.S., the EU has eliminated almost all
tariffs on raw-material imports as its own production has
fallen. Aluminum has been an exception. The EU still makes
two million tons of raw aluminum a year, and imports 2.5
million tons.
For years, EU officials say, France successfully fought to keep the tariffs at 6%, on behalf of
Pechiney SA, which was bought in 2003 by Alcan Inc. of Canada. Alcoa Inc., based in
Pittsburgh, and Norsk Hydro ASA of Norway also have plants in Europe. Besides France,
aluminum-producing countries in the EU include Spain, Greece, Slovakia and Germany.
The EU also has been makin
g
it harder for com
p
anies to secure antidum
p
in
g
tariffs a
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ainst
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