The European Union unveiled fresh tariffs on October 7, meant to shield its ailing steel sector, and taking a page from Donald Trump’s protectionist playbook.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, proposed 50% tariffs — twice the current rate — on all steel imports above a quota that will be cut by roughly 45%, confirming Bloomberg’s previous reporting.
“It is a very restrictive clause that does not have precedent in Europe,” EU industry commissioner Stephane Sejourne told Bloomberg News in an interview. He said that, once in place, only around 10% of the steel used in the EU market will be tariff-free.
The move is a response to mounting fears that traditional European industries like steel are fading, choked by a glut of subsidized Chinese products, high energy prices and dwindling local demand.
The measures would align EU tariffs with a 50% U.S. levy on most foreign steel and aluminum. The EU is trying to convince the U.S. to lower its rate for EU steel, and jointly target China instead.
Thus far, those talks have failed to make progress since the two sides struck a trade deal in July that limited U.S. tariffs to 15% on most EU exports, including cars.
“We hope we can have talks as quickly as possible [with the U.S.] that will get a result,” Sejourne said. “But we share the same industrial agenda as the U.S. — we want more local production, more economic growth and protection for our industry.”
At a press conference on October 7, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said he hoped this latest move would help unstick talks with the U.S. about uniting to combat Chinese competition on steel.
“I think it was quite clear that we are not each other’s problems,” he said, describing past negotiations with the U.S.
The EU currently places a 25% tariff on most steel imports once quotas are exhausted. But that mechanism is temporary and expires next year, prompting the commission to develop more permanent protections.
The new measures would cut the total quota for all steel categories to 18.35 million tons a year, about 45% lower than the current quota level. The plan sets quotas for specific product types based on historical averages.
“This is a major leap forward to defend the sector,” said Axel Eggert, director general of Eurofer, Europe’s steel industry association.
EU member states and the European Parliament must still approve the proposal.
The EU executive argued that its plan is compatible with World Trade Organization rules. The commission will also discuss country-specific allocations with those affected, according to a press release.
The tariffs will hit the struggling British steel industry particularly hard, since the EU buys about two-thirds of the country’s iron and steel exports, according to Office for National Statistics data. The Labour government was forced to seize control of the U.K.’s last maker of virgin steel earlier this year after the plant’s Chinese owner moved to halt production.
The U.K. government last month shelved efforts to get the U.S. to roll back a 25% levy on British-made steel, concluding it was better than the 50% tariff that the Trump administration had applied to other countries’ exports.
In his press conference, Sefcovic stressed that the EU steel market would remain open to the U.K. under an agreed quota.
“Clearly, we are like-minded partners,” he said.
