PARIS — Representatives of the world's biggest steelmakers and steel-producing countries agreed Wednesday to speed up efforts to scrap government subsidies to reduce the sector's overcapacity, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
However, representatives disagreed on whether the move should be part of overall efforts to liberalize international trade. Industry officials argued that it should be a stand-alone initiative, outside of free-trade talks at the World Trade Organization.
"There appears to be consensus that (the steel) industry would like most subsidies and related government support to be banned" in most cases, said Hans Colliander, chairman of the OECD steel committee.
In a statement, Colliander said the International Iron and Steel Institute argued that concrete steps for the scrapping of the subsidies should be agreed on ahead of a December meeting of the steel committee of the OECD.
State aid for closing plants, environmental cleanup and employment assistance for laid-off workers would still be favored, Colliander said.
In his comments on Wednesday's steel talks, Colliander said any move to discipline subsidies would stem from the problem of overcapacity. A governmental initiative "might or would eventually be folded into the WTO framework," he said.
The talks were continuing Thursday and could spill into Friday.
The OECD said global steel demand fell 1 percent in 2001, and will remain flat or recover slowly in 2002, with the exception of China which has strong demand. Global consumption may increase about 2.8 percent in 2003, the OECD stated.