🔗 Share this article

EU officials revealed they will adopt Donald Trump's steel tariffs, effectively doubling taxes on foreign steel to fifty percent in a action condemned as "an existential threat" to the industry in the UK.

Unprecedented Crisis for British Steel Exports

With 80% of UK steel shipments going to the EU, this change creates the British steel sector's largest crisis, according to the industry association representing the industry.

New EU Measures and Rules

Through its proposal presented to the European parliament this week, the EU executive also proposed cutting the existing quota for tariff-exempt steel and requiring international producers to state the origin of steel production to stop Chinese producers diverting exports through third nations.

The European steel industry stood at the brink of failure – these measures safeguard it so that investments can be made, decarbonise, and become competitive again.

Overhaul of Existing System

The proposals are intended to supersede a import framework that has been in operation for the past seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now considered ineffective. To do nothing could have been "catastrophic" for the industry, one EU official stated.

Sector Reaction and Concerns

Nevertheless, industry representatives, from the industry body UK Steel, said EU doubling its tariffs would create "the most severe challenge the British steel sector has encountered".

There were calls for the government to "acknowledge the critical necessity to implement its own measures to protect" the British steel sector – which is still reeling from a twenty-five percent duty imposed by Trump recently – from the threat of vast quantities of global steel diverted away from American and EU markets.

This surge in foreign steel "could be terminal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Union and Political Pressure

Alasdair McDiarmid, representative at labor union Community, said the proposed changes represented "an existential threat" to British steel production.

Labor and business representatives called on Keir Starmer to start negotiations urgently with the European Union on nation-specific duty-free quotas, pointing out that the United Kingdom was now the EU's primary export market.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the European Union have also been warning for several months that their own industry confronts being "eliminated" through the new 50% tariffs on American market shipments along with rising energy prices and cheap Chinese competition.

The steel industry on in both the UK and EU is described as a foundational industry, providing elemental components in products ranging from building frameworks, wind turbines and transport infrastructure to household appliances and cutlery.

Implementation and Next Steps

These proposals must be agreed by EU nations and the EU legislature, with the EU executive head urging national governments and European parliament members to act fast in backing the proposal.

If the plan is ratified, the EU will cut its current duty-free quota by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a year, a volume last seen in 2013. It will impose a 50% duty on foreign steel exceeding the limit and oblige countries exporting into the bloc to declare the production origin to prevent circumvention of the sanctions.

Exceptions and International Cooperation

These European nations will be exempt from import limits or tariffs due to their strong economic ties in the EEA, the European Union has said.

In addition to these measures, the European Union is pursuing a "steel partnership" with the United States to protect their national industries from excess production.

EU needs to act now, and decisively, prior to operations cease in large parts of the European steel sector and its value chains.