The protest included a convoy of lorries driving through the city and ten symbolic coffins placed outside the Commission's headquarters.
Demonstrators said existing tariffs have already curbed steel imports, but argued these must now be extended to finished products too.
"We can no longer withstand Asian competition," said Piotr Sikorski, head of the Polish Union of Steel Distributors and Processors, adding that the industry speaks on behalf of hundreds of thousands of businesses across the EU, from appliance makers to carmakers and furniture producers.
"Steel is everywhere," he stressed
Alexander Julius, president of the European steel distributors' federation EUROMETAL, warned that without firm action from the Commission, Europe's steel industry will not survive — hence the ten coffins brought to what he called "a European cemetery" to underline the severity of the situation.
He called for a level playing field, noting that EU climate rules apply to European firms but not to competitors from outside the bloc.
"We in Europe pay the costs we've imposed on ourselves, while the door remains wide open for goods from elsewhere," he said.
Protesters say around 300,000 jobs in steelmaking are at risk, rising to more than 13 million when the entire supply chain is taken into account.
(ał)
Source: IAR