The United States is reportedly drafting sweeping proposals to abolish all steel tariffs and subsidies ahead of international talks on the industry's problems.

The US sparked a trade war when it slapped tariffs of up to 30% on imported steel in March, a move which European and Asian steel makers viewed as unjust.

"We will put forward a very ambitious agenda, essentially a call for action from the United States to take the necessary actions to eliminate distortions in the steel sector worldwide," an official at the US Commerce Department told Reuters news agency.

Officials from 39 nations are due to begin talks on the world steel industry in Paris on 11 September.

'Ban subsidies'

The talks will take place under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

US negotiators will reportedly put forward a four-point plan stressing the need to abolish tariffs, subsidies and other measures that distort free trade.

The official did not say if the US would offer any change to its own tariffs.

He said the US would call for OECD members to agree to "prohibit substantially all subsidies to the steel sector".

State support would still be permitted to cover the cost of closing excess production facilities and to pay for the retraining of redundant workers, the official said.

The US has argued that Asian and European steelmakers receive unfair subsidies - a charge prompted complaints to the World Trade Organisation from the European Union (EU), Japan and other Asian steel makers.

'Better enforcement needed'

Secondly, the US will call for an agreement abolishing all tariffs and other market access barriers that "have a dampening effect on trade," the official said.

To ensure that global steel markets "are allowed to operate fully", the official said the US will propose better enforcement of domestic competition laws by OECD members.

Finally, it will call for the OECD to take a stance on practices that currently fall outside of the orbit of trade rules. These include access to preferential financing for steel firms.

As the trade row has escalated, the US has agreed to exempt some products, with the result that nearly one quarter of steel imports now fall outside the net.

The latest proposals may be an attempt to find a new route out of the problem by widening the debate, analysts said.

To succeed, the US must persuade OECD members in Paris to take its ideas forward to a higher-level meeting of in December.

The EU has until late September to decide whether to slap retaliatory sanctions on a list of US products.