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 rising import pressure.
The agreement aims to address the impact of excess global steel capacity, expected to reach 721 million tonnes by 2027, which has contributed to increased exports to the EU market and increased competition for domestic producers. The measures aim to ease trade imbalances and provide a more level playing field for EU steel producers.
As previously reported SteelOrbis , the new measure sets tariff-free quotas at 18.3 million tons per year, and the out-of-quota duty is set at 50 percent for 30 categories of steel products imported into the EU. It also introduces a "melt and pour" requirement to improve traceability and transparency in the EU's steel supply chain.
The new measure will replace existing EU steel protections, which have introduced a system of tariff quotas (TRQs) on 28 product categories since 2018, allowing duty-free imports up to the limit of a 50 percent tariff.
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 carried over from one quarter to the next for all product categories to provide flexibility to economic operators and support supply chains. Once adopted, the measures are expected to play a key role in stabilizing the EU steel market amid ongoing global challenges.
Welcoming the outcome of EU negotiations on new steel trade measures, the European Steel Association (EUROFER) said the agreement will help protect European steelmaking capacity, protect more than 230,000 jobs and stabilize the sector under pressure from record imports and global excess capacity. EUROFER stressed that further action will be required to ensure the long-term viability of the sector, including measures to reduce energy costs, improve the efficiency of carbon controls and address global excess production.
The association also called for similar protections to be extended to downstream industries to support demand across the European steel value chain.
