EU Commission regrets 'artificially inflated' U.S. steel duties

[March 31, 2017]  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it regretted a U.S. decision to impose anti-dumping measures on steel plate exported from Europe, adding that the duties were "artificially inflated".

The U.S. Department of Commerce set duties of up to 148 percent on cut-to-length plate from seven producers from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, prompting Germany to urge the EU to file a WTO complaint.

The Commission had been active during the procedure supporting the European exporters concerned, a spokesman said.

"Unfortunately, our comments and notably those concerning the use by the US of methodologies which artificially inflate the preliminary dumping margins have not been given expected consideration," the spokesman said.

The final duties were in many cases higher than the preliminary duties set in November.

"We will look now into the detail of the decision taken by the US and consider the appropriate steps," he continued.

(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek)

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