🔗 Share this article

The European Union revealed they will adopt the United States' steel tariffs, increasing to double levies on imports to 50% in a decision condemned as "an existential threat" to the industry in the UK.

Unprecedented Crisis for UK Steel Exports

With eighty percent of UK steel shipments going to the EU, this policy shift creates the UK steel industry's most severe challenge, according to the lobby group speaking for the sector.

New EU Measures and Regulations

Through its proposal submitted to the EU legislature this week, the EU executive additionally suggested slashing the existing quota for duty-free imports and requiring foreign suppliers to state the origin of steel production to prevent Chinese producers diverting exports through other countries.

EU steel sector stood at the brink of failure – these measures safeguard it so that it can invest, decarbonise, and regain competitiveness.

Overhaul of Current Framework

These measures are intended to supersede a quota system that has been functioning for the last seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now considered ineffective. To do nothing could have been "fatal" for the industry, a European official said.

Sector Reaction and Concerns

Nevertheless, industry representatives, head of the trade association British Steel, stated Brussels doubling its tariffs would pose "the biggest crisis the British steel sector has ever faced".

He called on the government to "acknowledge the critical necessity to implement domestic protections to defend" the British steel sector – which is affected by a twenty-five percent duty from Trump earlier this year – from the threat of millions of tonnes of global steel diverted away from US and European markets.

This flood of imports "could be terminal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Labor and Government Calls

Alasdair McDiarmid, representative at steelworkers' union Community, said the new measures posed "a survival risk" to British steel production.

Unions and industry leaders urged Keir Starmer to begin talks urgently with the EU on country-specific duty-free quotas, noting that the United Kingdom was now the European Union's primary export market.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the European Union have repeatedly cautioned for several months that their own industry faces being "eliminated" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US along with high energy costs and cheap Chinese competition.

Steel on both sides of the Channel is considered a foundational industry, providing elemental components in products ranging from building frameworks, wind turbines and railways to dishwashers and cutlery.

Adoption and Future Actions

These proposals require approval by member states and the EU legislature, with the European Commission president calling on national governments and MEPs to move quickly in backing the initiative.

If the plan is ratified, the European Union will reduce its existing tariff-free allowance by 47% to 18.3m tonnes a annually, a volume last seen in 2013. It will apply a fifty percent duty on foreign steel beyond the quota and require countries shipping to the EU to declare the production origin to prevent circumvention of the measures.

Exceptions and International Cooperation

Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein will not be subject to import limits or duties because of their strong economic ties in the European Economic Area, the EU has confirmed.

Alongside the proposal, the European Union is seeking a "steel partnership" with the United States to ringfence their respective economies from overcapacity.

The European Union must take immediate action, and decisively, prior to all lights go out in large parts of the EU steel industry and its value chains.