The Commission voted late on Tuesday not to impose 'dumping' duties on countries who are allegedly filling the American market with cold-rolled steel at unfair prices.

It ruled in favour of five countries - Australia, India, Japan, Sweden and Thailand. A total of 20 countries are accused of selling cold-rolled steel products below the fair market value or the cost of production.

The EC said it would continue to defend the interests of Belgium, France and Germany, and said that European steel exports to the United States were "thoroughly fair and legitimate".

The ITC said on Tuesday it had found no evidence of damage to the US steel industry and voted 4-1 against any new tariffs.

EC spokesman Jonathan Faull said on Wednesday that the vote was "a welcome one".

Europe is still locked in a battle with the US over the steel import duties President George Bush imposed in March.

These duties were aimed at protecting the struggling US steel industry, though the US has since granted exemptions to over half of the EU's export products.

The EU has until late September to decide whether to use retaliatory sanctions on US products.