The European Union will harden the imports of steel import to reduce incoming flows by an additional 15% as of April, a senior official of the block said on Wednesday, to a measure destined to prevent cheap steel from flooding the European market after Washington imposed new tariffs.
European steel producers, who already fight against high energy prices and competition in Asia and other places, warn that the EU runs the risk of becoming a cheap steel landfill diverted from the US market, which could end European plants.
“In a period in which no one respects the WTO standards (World Trade Organization) and everyone speaks of national security … The EU cannot be the only continent that allows its industry to fall apart,” the executive vice president of the European Commission, Stéphane Sejourne, told Reuters.
Since the US market now made less commercial sense with a 25% tariff imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump, Sejourne predicted that the producers of Canada, India and China would seek to sell increasing volumes in Europe.
The executive director of the second largest steel manufacturer in Europe, Thyssenkrupp, said on Wednesday that the United States imported around 23 million metric tons of steel last year, volumes that now look for other destinations, including Europe, as a result of import tariffs.
Arceormittal shares, the main steel producer in Europe, went up after the Reuters report, reaching its maximum of the session. They rose 0.9% at 12:47 GMT. The Commission will propose on Wednesday a series of commercial measures to boost its weakened metallurgical industry, as part of a new European action plan for steel and metals.
A draft plan, seen by Reuters earlier this week, showed that the EU was studying the possibility of limiting imports. The Commission will also consult aluminum producers, who face similarities similar to those of steel -siderurgics, about the possibility of initiating accelerated investigation for safeguards.
Sejourne, in charge of defining the industrial strategy of the block, said that a first measure would be to reduce import fees, known as safeguards, for multiple degrees of steel from April 1, which would reduce tickets by approximately 15%.
The imported volumes within the quotas reflect the established commercial flows and are not subject to tariffs. Any importation of steel outside the quota will be affected by a 25%tariff.
Since July 2019, the volumes of the quota have increased more than 25% as the block meets the WTO standards. In 2024, the EU imported around 60 million metric tons of steel, of which 30 million tons were inside the contingent free of tariffs.
The Commission will also establish new measures in the third quarter to replace reinforced safeguards, which according to WTOs cannot be extended beyond June 30, 2026.
Sejourne said the new mechanism will be much more strict after industry appeals. The details are still to be determined.
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European steel production
“We also have the challenge of anticipating future tensions, wars and pandemics; and we saw what happened in the past with Russian gas. Let’s prevent tomorrow’s steel becoming yesterday’s gas,” said Sejourne. He said that the EU did not want to depend on steel imports, which will be crucial for the reconstruction of the EU industrial military complex after the Ukraine War.
To further reinforce existing commercial defense measures, it is planned to review public procurement standards in 2026 to favor European steel. The Commission will also introduce a “cast and discharge” rule, according to the draft of the steel action plan and metals. This standard would prevent importers from changing the origin of the metal “through a minimum transformation.”
Among non -commercial measures, a pilot program with the European Investment Bank to guarantee long -term energy contracts will prioritize steel and aluminum producers. The details will be announced in the second quarter of 2025.
“We want to keep our steel in Europe and be able to recycle it in Europe,” said Sejourne. “It is a strategic issue. There is no Steel Defense Industry, there is no automotive industry without steel and we want to conserve our industries.”
With Reuters information.
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