(Reuters) -The U.S. and the European Union are weighing new tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum as part of a bid to fight carbon emissions, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
China, which produces more than half of the world’s steel, is accused by the EU and United States of creating overcapacity that is threatening the survival of their own steel industries.
The idea floated within President Joe Biden’s administration is still in an initial phase and hasn’t been formally proposed, the report said, adding that an agreement with the EU isn’t likely until late next year at the earliest.
The new framework, which is somewhat similar to an agreement reached between the EU and United States last year, is mainly aimed at China, along with other large polluting nations, the Bloomberg report said.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and her team had presented the framework to European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and others in Prague in late October, the report said.
However, EU officials had then raised the issue of legality and compatibility with World Trade Organization rules, as well as with the bloc’s internal carbon pricing mechanism, the report said.
The office of the United States Trade Representative and a spokesperson for the European Council for trade and development did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Deepa Babington)
