On Monday, February 15, EU officials in Brussels are going to hear the voices of Košice steelmakers below their windows. Around one hundred employees of U. S. Steel Košice will be joining the expected gathering of three to four thousand colleagues from other EU member states who are going to Belgium to say a loud YES to correct trading policy and NO to the granting of market economy status to China by the European Union.

The granting of this status to China just 15 years after its joining the World Trade Organization would make it impossible for the EU to counteract Chinese dumping, claim the signatories of the European industrial manifesto for correct trading policy adopted under the figurehead of AEGIS Europe, an alliance representing 30 key industrial branches in Europe, including the European steelmaking association Eurofer. They call on the leaders of the European Union to commit themselves to free but also fair global trading, and to set up effective measures to protect European industry, to prevent further Chinese dumping and preserve jobs and growth in Europe.