The European Commission presented on Wednesday an action plan for the steel and metals industries. In a sector marked by strong international competition, the European executive plans to tighten import quotas with an objective of 15% reduction.
At a time when the sector is facing 25% US customs duties and competition from Asia is putting pressure on European producers, the Commission announced Wednesday that it would limit steel imports by 15% from 1 April.
“In the space of a few years, global overcapacities – particularly in Asia – have hit our plants’ order books hard,” Commission Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné said while introducing an action plan for steel and metals industries, adding: “This is priority number one: We need to protect our steelworks from unfair foreign competition – wherever it may come from.”
Since the Americans slapped a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, the EU has been worried that it will see more global steel overcapacities flooding into its market. In 2018, during a trade dispute with the first Trump administration, the EU introduced a safeguard measure to limit steel imports. This has since been renewed several times.
From April onwards, the Commission will be stepping up these quotas to obtain a further 15% reduction in imports. It has also announced that it will present a replacement to the safeguard clause, due to expire in 2026, in the third quarter of 2025.
As Euronews already reported, the EU action plan on steel and aluminium also includes an investigation on aluminium on the EU market for possible safeguard measures.
“Europe must be a global steel player, not a playground,” Stéphane Séjourné warned.
To protect its market from unfair competition from global players, the EU also plans to introduce a “melted and poured” rule for metals imports. It should prevent foreign importers from circumventing trade defence measures, such as anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures, by doing the ultimate stage of the production process in a third country not subject to the measures, before shipment to the EU.
Under the new rule, the Commission will be able to act against the country where the metal was originally melted to eliminate the possibility to change the origin of the metal product by performing minimal transformation.
