Antonio Gozzi, president of
steel-producer association Federacciai, on Monday said there may
be "change in the air" regarding attention to dumping, the
practice of manufacturers exporting to countries at prices lower
than in their home markets.
Steel manufacturers have been urging the EU to take
stronger anti-dumping measures against Chinese companies, and
thousands of steelworkers from across Europe held a protest in
Brussels on Monday.
Gozzi said he believes the protest, along with a recent
letter signed by seven countries to EU Trade Commissioner
Cecilia Malmstrom urging the EU to help the industry in crisis,
will have a "positive outcome".
Gozzi said in the past "there has been disattention on the
part of European countries" to the steel industry crisis and
also "strong resistance to implementation of the steel industry
action plan" introduced by former EU Industry Commissioner
Antonio Tajani.
"We need to use all the tools at our disposal to avoid
unfair trade from China and other countries," Gozzi said.
He said the foundations for an EU study on the problem that
said only 211,000 industry jobs were at risk across the EU "were
never understood" and that in fact in Italy "there are hundreds
of thousands of jobs at risk".
Gozzi said the absence of Industry Minister Federica Guidi
in Brussels isn't a sign of disregard for the issue on her part.
"She has always followed the position of Federacciai with
extreme attention and support," he said.
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