Further exemptions to the import tariffs US President George W. Bush placed on steel could still be granted before the July 19th EU deadline for deciding on sanctions.
"There's still room between now and July 19 for further action on exclusions," said a senior Bush administration official on condition of anonymity.
Mr Bush slapped protective tariffs as high as 30 per cent on various types of imported steel in March, to the ire of the European Union and other US trading partners.
Of the 469 requests for exemptions made since early June, 224 have been granted representing some 700,000 tonnes of imported steel, about six per cent of the 13.1 million tonnes of imported steel hit by the new tariffs.
The official said that three or four exemptions could possibly be granted before the July 19th EU deadline on deciding whether to impose retaliatory trade sanctions.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration announced last week that it had pushed back from July 3rd until the end of August the deadline for consideration of 800 requests for supplemental exemptions.
However, the same official was unable to say how many of the exemptions could be reviewed during that time.
The United States should let it be known before July 19th what it intends to do about the conflict over steel, a European Commission spokesman said earlier.
AFP