9/28/2009
HEADLINES
PERSPECTIVE: EIFI Confident on Stainless Tariffs

With a new European Commission investigation relating to stainless steel fasteners from India and Malaysia just announced, European Industrial Fasteners Institute president Anders Karlsson expressed confidence in eventual tariffs.

“We like good competition but when the trade is clearly unfair, and based on subsidies, then we have a responsibility to try to protect our industry with the trade instruments that are legally available,” Karlsson told Fastener+Fixing magazine. “This is not something that is unique to Europe.”

Karlsson, marketing vice president for Bulten AB, also expressed concern about the quality of imported product. “We have tested products that are headmarked clearly with a quality level, which the tests prove they do not meet.

“When a(n) … industrial user takes a bolt marked 8.8 or A4, they should be able to trust that the product will meet the standard. Some people are cheating – it cannot be called anything else.”

The EIFI represents 200 companies, which comprise approximately 80% of the output of fasteners in Europe.

“We … have a vital interest in getting other people to treat fasteners more seriously – all too often it is still said they are just nuts and bolts. They may represent less than 1% of the value of a finished product, but they can be 20% of the part numbers involved in say a motor car, and if the fastener is not there, or does not perform correctly it can represent 100% of a very serious problem.” ©2009 GlobalFastenerNews.com

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• Nucor Fastener Files Antidumping Case Against China and Taiwan

Related Links:

• EIFI