EU may reduce import tariffs on some raw materials

Recently, the European media reported that Italy has proposed to the European Commission to reduce some of the import tariffs on raw materials and help the European manufacturing industry tide over difficulties. Salomemi, deputy minister of Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development, said: “This policy can help European manufacturers buy raw materials at the same price as their competitors.

In the current situation, this is tantamount to the contribution of European manufacturers and consumers."

According to informed sources, the European Commission has prepared a list of 92 kinds of raw materials in accordance with the Italian proposal, preparing to cancel or drastically reduce import tariffs. The implementation period is 2-3 years.

Specific products include chemical and mineral raw materials for food processing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chips and packaging materials; materials for iron and steel production and automobile manufacturing; sheep, cattle, pigs, horses and other livestock required for the production of leather; tropical wood, Pig iron, aluminum and 26 kinds of yarns and fabrics. These raw materials involve European-dominated industries such as steel production, cosmetics production, shoemaking, textile manufacturing, furniture manufacturing, and automobile manufacturing.

At present, the EU-27 has not reached an agreement on the list. Among them, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic and other free-trade camp countries support Italy's proposal; while France, Germany, Spain have a competitive relationship similar to Italy because of the manufacturing structure and oppose Italy's proposal.

According to the media, the policy of reducing raw material import tariffs and maintaining higher tariffs on manufactured goods may arouse the vigilance of developing countries, and may even exclude developing countries from taking relevant trade retaliatory measures in order to maintain their competitive advantage.

An official of the European Commission, who declined to be named, said that the European Commission could either reject the Italian proposal or rewrite a list, but unless all member states reach a compromise, it is impossible to formulate this policy at the EU level. At present, Italy is making use of summer breaks to focus its lobbying on France and Germany, but there is still a big gap from reaching a compromise.

The media speculated that it is unlikely that the European Commission will receive the support of all member states this autumn. The formulation of this policy is likely to be delayed and the final result is difficult to predict.