A long-running row within the European Union over how to cut import tariffs on unwrought aluminium appeared resolved today.
Experts from member states have agreed on a compromise that will see duties reduced, an EU diplomat said. The group agreed to halve the duty to 3 per cent and then review it after three years based on market conditions.
Current EU president Germany said talks were continuing.
The cut would take effect once published in the EU's Official Journal as it was decided that backdating the reduction would be too complicated for smaller firms, the diplomat said.
EU member state ambassadors would need to sign the deal before formal adoption by ministers.
The EU's executive commission previously proposed that the halving of the duties be made retroactive to January 1st, 2007, before their elimination from 2009. But that ran into opposition from several countries.
Lower tariffs have been sought by new EU members such as Poland and the Czech Republic, where firms have had to pay more for raw material from countries such as Russia and Ukraine than before they joined the bloc.
But several older EU members, including Germany, have been worried about the effect of cutting the import duties on their own smelting companies.