The EU has reached a preliminary agreement on new measures to protect the steel industry
The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on new measures aimed at protecting the EU steel industry from global overcapacity and growing import pressures.
The agreement aims to address the effects of excess global steel production capacity, which is expected to reach 721 million tons by 2027, which has contributed to increased exports to the EU market and increased competition for domestic producers. These measures are aimed at mitigating trade distortions and ensuring more equal conditions for steel producers in the EU.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, the new measure sets duty-free quotas at 18.3 million tons per year, while the duty outside the quota is set at 50% for 30 categories of steel products imported into the EU. It also introduces a "melt and pour" requirement to improve the traceability and transparency of the EU steel supply chain.
The new measure will replace the EU's existing steel safeguards, which from 2018 introduce a tariff quota system (TRQ) for 28 product categories, allowing duty-free imports up to a certain limit before a 50% tariff is applied.
The Agreement also clarifies aspects related to the management of quotas and their distribution among exporting countries. The agreement stipulates that during the first year of application, unused import quotas can be shifted from one quarter to the next for all product categories to provide flexibility for economic operators and support supply chains.
Next steps in the legislative process
The interim agreement must now be formally approved by the Council and the European Parliament in the coming weeks in order to ensure its entry into force on July 1, 2026, when the current protective measures for steel expire.
Once adopted, these measures are expected to play a key role in stabilizing the EU steel market in the face of ongoing global challenges.
Welcoming the outcome of EU negotiations on new steel trade measures, the European Steel Producers Association (EUROFER) said the agreement would help protect European steelmaking capacity, save more than 230,000 jobs, and stabilize a sector under pressure from record import levels and global overcapacity. EUROFER stressed that additional actions will be required to ensure the long-term viability of the sector, including measures to reduce energy costs, improve the efficiency of carbon control mechanisms and address the global oversupply of production facilities.