Italian steel association Federacciai defended the proposed extension of the EU safeguards and said that the idea that the EU safeguards were intended to counter improper distortions or speculation in international markets seemed misleading and clearly wrong, and the data can easily confirm this.

Federacciai said that it believed it is important to maintain the existing safeguards but to modify them if necessary, such as reducing the level of potential harm for certain countries or certain products to take into account specific market changes.