The steel industry, in the person of Tata Steel's board chairman, held consultations with the US ambassador in The Hague yesterday. The possibility of being exempted from Trump's planned import tariffs on steel products from abroad was discussed.
Theo Henrar, executive chairman of Tata Steel Netherlands in IJmuiden, was accompanied during the meeting by Ineke Dezentjé Hamming of business association FME. They expressed to Ambassador Pete Hoekstra their concerns about the levies on steel and aluminium announced by Trump.
Dutch steel companies want the levies not to be introduced. Should that happen anyway, they argue for an exemption position. Tata Steel says it makes products that currently cannot be made in the United States at all and that the US auto industry desperately needs.
'Hoekstra understanding'
Top executive of the steel giant, Theo Henrar, and Ineke Dezentjé Hamming of FME say it was a good conversation. They feel that they were listened to. The US embassy also let it be known in a statement that it was a constructive meeting.
According to Ineke Dezentjé Hamming, president of the technology industry trade association, Pete Hoekstra, the US ambassador, was very understanding of the position of FME and Tata Steel. "He promised us that he will also convey our concerns to President Trump," he said.
Representatives of the Dutch steel industry also discussed cooperation to counter dumping practices, said Dezentjé Hamming. "I understood that he was keen on that. So I can imagine we are going to have a follow-up conversation about that."
Dumping steel
Theo Henrar, board chairman of Tata Steel hopes that America will only take measures against the countries dumping steel. "So not against the Netherlands, nor against the EU. But China is dumping steel, Russia is dumping steel, Brazil is dumping steel, take the measures against those."
Nevertheless, the ambassador maintains that the steel levies do not involve unfair trade practices. "The ambassador has made it known that the steel and aluminium industries are important sectors, vital to our broad national security interests," the US embassy statement reads.
Meanwhile, opposition to the levies on steel and aluminium is also growing in Trump's own party. Some Republicans want to possibly block the plan for import duties on steel and aluminium. "We are very concerned about the consequences of a trade war and call on the White House not to move forward with this plan," said the spokesman for Paul Ryan, the Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is also criticising Trump's plans. The WTO calls on member states to avoid "the fall of the first dominoes" in a trade war. According to the WTO, escalation is otherwise imminent. The organisation says such import tariffs could eventually lead to a major recession.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: FME/NOS
Photo: Tata Steel
