* Quotas set at 2015-2017 average imports, plus 5 pct
* Tariffs of 25 pct apply if quotas are filled
* Steel group welcomes move, carmakers don't (Adds EU steel body, Swiss inclusion)By Philip BlenkinsopBRUSSELS, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The European Union will imposelimits on steel coming into the bloc from Saturday in responseto U.S. President Donald Trump's metals tariffs, a filing in theEuropean Union's official journal said on Friday.Steel imports will be subject to quotas to counter theconcerns of EU producers who say Europe could be flooded withsteel that is no longer being imported into the United States.There will be specific limits for major exporting countriesand the quotas will apply for three-month periods in order tolimit stockpiling. The main exporters of steel to the EU areChina, India, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Ukraine.The measures concern 26 steel product categories, withquotas set at the average of imports over the period 2015-2017,plus 5 percent. Once these quotas are filled, 25 percent tariffsapply. They will replace provisional measures imposed in July.The new measures should remain in place for up to threeyears, but can be reviewed in case of changed circumstances. Thequotas should also rise by 5 percent from July 1, 2019, andagain by the same amount a year later, subject to reviews, theCommission said.Steel group Eurofer, whose members include world number oneArcelorMittal and Germany's ThyssenKrupp , said safeguards were completely justified given the diversion ofsteel to the EU market.
However, it questioned why the quota was set at 5 percentabove 2015-2017 levels, saying 2016 and 2017 had been recordyears for imports, with a further 12 percent year-on-year risein imports in 2018. The Commission should take account of actualmarket conditions during the first review, it said.European auto manufacturers association ACEA has called themeasures protectionist.The Commission, which conducted an investigation, said
import volumes into the EU increased significantly from March2018, when the United States imposed tariffs of 25 percent onimports of steel and 10 percent on aluminium. It extended thesemeasures to the European Union in June.The EU will exclude some developing nations, South Africaand the countries of the European Economic Area, notably Norway,from its quotas.However, Switzerland, which is home to steel company Schmolz& Bickenbach , will be included despite its close tiesto the bloc.Switzerland said country-specific quotas should at leastprevent a repeat of the situation in December, when globalquotas were filled, forcing some Swiss firms to halt deliveriesto Europe. But it is still pushing for an exemption. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by JohnMiller in Zurich, editing by Robin Emmott and Elaine Hardcastle)