BRUSSELS, Aug 23: The European Union said on Friday it will maintain its complaint over US steel tariffs before the World Trade Organization (WTO) despite exemptions by Washington on a raft of steel products.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, nonetheless welcomed a US decision Thursday to exclude 178 more steel products from steep import tariffs imposed five months ago, a move that will see more than 50 per cent of EU steel exports spared of the punitive measures.

“The EC welcomes the latest batch of exclusions of steel products of interest to the EU exporters from the US safeguard measures which were announced yesterday,” a Commission statement said.

“This will reduce the overall impact on the United States WTO illegal safeguard measures which will now exempt more than 50 per cent of EU exports.

“Nevertheless a considerable number of products will still remain subject to prohibitive tariffs and the EU will therefore pursue its WTO complaint in that respect.”

Japan is now expected to decide as early as September to scrap a plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on US steel products, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said on Thursday, without identifying its sources.—AFP