France, Italy and Germany Push EU Chemical Import Safeguards

European governments are considering a much broader form of trade protection for chemicals and plastics. France, Italy and likely Germany plan to request EU safeguard investigations covering PET packaging resin, epoxy resins and glass fibres, according to Reuters. The key point is that these would be prospective investigations—not quotas already in force. 9

What the countries are seeking

The planned requests concern three industrial inputs:

• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET): a polymer resin widely used in packaging.
• Epoxy resins: chemicals used across industrial supply chains.
• Glass fibres: reinforcement materials used in a range of manufactured products.

A safeguard is designed to address a damaging surge in imports rather than to penalize a particular exporter for unfair pricing. The EU can use tariff-rate quotas: imports within a set volume can enter under one treatment, while volumes above it face an additional duty. Under EU guidance, a quota should normally be no lower than the average import level of the previous three representative years. 29

How safeguards differ from anti-dumping tariffs

This distinction is central to the debate.

Anti-dumping duties follow an investigation into whether goods from named countries or producers are being sold at dumped prices and are causing injury to EU industry. They are targeted. For example, the EU has imposed duties on epoxy resins from China, Taiwan and Thailand after finding injurious dumping, and on continuous-filament glass fibre from Egypt, Bahrain and Thailand. 47

Safeguards, by contrast, focus on import volumes and injury from an import surge. They can apply across trading partners rather than only the countries accused of dumping. Reuters reported that a chemicals safeguard could therefore affect suppliers in countries such as Japan and Canada, including partners that have EU free-trade agreements. 9

That breadth is why safeguards are politically more difficult: they can restrain trade from suppliers that have not been found to engage in unfair practices.

Why chemical producers are asking for stronger action

The proposal comes amid sustained pressure on Europe’s chemical industry. The European Commission identifies high energy costs, unfair global competition and weak demand as core challenges, and its chemicals action plan calls for measures to address capacity-closure risks and maintain a level playing field. 6

The pressure is particularly acute in petrochemicals. A Council document warned that, without collective action to restore competitiveness, around 20 steam crackers could shut by 2035 and more than 50,000 jobs connected to those plants could disappear. 3

Reuters has also reported that European producers face rising imports and a global capacity expansion led by China, while high production costs and ageing assets have weakened the region’s position. 9

The evidence supports a serious structural challenge, but headline estimates of plant closures and job losses vary by methodology and source. The clearest official warning in the materials provided is the Council’s projection concerning steam crackers and 50,000 linked jobs—not a settled forecast for the whole manufacturing sector. 3

Where France, Italy and Germany stand

The three countries are not presenting an identical industrial agenda, but their positions are converging around investigation of selected sectors.

• France supports, in principle, looking into safeguards for particular chemicals and plastics because of the sector’s difficulties. 9
• Italy is interested in examining selected chemicals that feed into defence, automotive, energy, shipbuilding and infrastructure supply chains. 9
• Germany has said it is open in principle while the chemical industry prepares an investigation request; Berlin’s final position would depend on the Commission’s findings. 9

Germany’s participation would be consequential because the country has often taken a cautious approach to trade barriers. The current discussion signals greater concern across major EU economies about industrial competitiveness and dependence on imported inputs.

Why the EU has used safeguards sparingly

The EU’s trade-defence toolbox has historically relied more heavily on country-specific anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases. Safeguards are unusual because they are temporary, sector-wide responses to import pressure and can cover partners not accused of dumping. 9

That reluctance is now being reassessed as European policymakers confront a larger goods-trade imbalance with China and concern that trade diversion could intensify pressure on EU markets. Reuters reported that the EU’s goods-trade deficit with China was roughly €1 billion per day, while German business groups have urged stronger action against market distortions. 9

What happens next

A request from France, Italy or Germany would not itself create a quota. The European Commission would need to open an investigation and determine whether the legal conditions for safeguard action are met. If the EU moved to final measures, governments would need to back the decision under the applicable voting rules; Reuters reported that this would require a qualified majority of at least 15 member states representing at least 65% of the EU population. 9

For buyers and suppliers, the practical implication is uncertainty rather than an immediate tariff change. The proposal could mark a meaningful shift toward broader import management in strategic chemical inputs—but it remains an early-stage policy effort subject to Commission evidence, member-state support and the EU’s trade-law constraints.