🔗 Share this article

EU officials declared they will adopt the United States' import duties on steel, effectively doubling taxes on imports to fifty percent in a decision condemned as "a survival risk" to the sector in the UK.

Major Challenge for British Steel Industry

With eighty percent of British exports destined for the EU, this policy shift represents the British steel sector's most severe challenge, according to the lobby group speaking for the industry.

New EU Measures and Rules

Through its proposal submitted to the EU legislature on Tuesday, the European Commission also proposed reducing the current allowance for tariff-exempt steel and obliging foreign suppliers to state where the steel was melted and poured to prevent China sneaking products in through third nations.

EU steel sector stood at the brink of failure – we are protecting it so that it can invest, reduce emissions, and regain competitiveness.

Replacement of Current Framework

These measures are designed to replace a quota system that has been functioning for the last seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now considered outdated. Inaction could have been "catastrophic" for the industry, a European official said.

Industry Response and Warnings

Nevertheless, industry representatives, from the trade association British Steel, said Brussels doubling its tariffs would pose "the biggest crisis the UK steel industry has encountered".

He called on the UK authorities to "acknowledge the critical necessity to implement domestic protections to defend" the British steel sector – which is affected by a 25% duty imposed by the US recently – from the threat of millions of tonnes of world steel diverted away from US and European markets.

This flood of imports "might prove fatal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Labor and Government Calls

Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at labor union Community, stated the new measures posed "an existential threat" to UK steel.

Labor and business representatives urged Keir Starmer to begin talks immediately with the EU on country-specific duty-free quotas, noting that the UK was now the European Union's primary trading partner.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the European Union have also been warning 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 low-cost Chinese imports.

Steel on in both the UK and EU is considered a essential sector, supplying elemental components in products ranging from building frameworks, renewable energy equipment and railways to household appliances and kitchenware.

Adoption and Next Steps

These proposals require approval by EU nations and the European parliament, with the European Commission president calling on national governments and European parliament members to move quickly in backing the initiative.

Should approval be granted, the European Union will cut its current duty-free quota by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a annually, a level last seen in 2013. It will impose a fifty percent duty on foreign steel beyond the quota and require countries shipping to the EU to declare where the steel was melted and poured to prevent circumvention of the sanctions.

Exemptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will not be subject to import limits or tariffs because of their close trading relationship in the European Economic Area, the EU has confirmed.

Alongside the proposal, the EU is pursuing a "steel partnership" with the US to protect their national industries from overcapacity.

EU needs to act now, and firmly, before operations cease in significant portions of the European steel sector and its value chains.