- Title: EXCLUSIVE-EU proposes cutting steel imports by 15% as Trump tariffs bite
- Date: 19th March 2025
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MARCH 18, 2025) (REUTERS) EUROPEAN COMMISSION EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT STEPHANE SEJOURNE SPEAKING DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (French) EUROPEAN COMMISSION EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT STEPHANE SEJOURNE, SAYING: "There would no country without steel, and so there is no collective organisation and industry of chemistry or defence without steel. And so steel i
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Europe steel tariffs
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM/ DUISBURG, GERMANY
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM/ DUISBURG, GERMANY
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Commodities Markets,Europe,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA002000419032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The European Union will tighten steel import quotas to reduce inflows by a further 15% from April, a senior EU official said on Wednesday, in a bid to prevent cheap steel flooding the European market after the Trump administration imposed new tariffs.
European steel producers already battling high energy prices and competition from Asia and elsewhere warn that the EU risks becoming a dumping ground for cheap steel which could kill off Europe's plants as Washington's tariffs redraw trade flows.
The Commission will on Wednesday propose a raft of trade-related measures to boost its ailing metals industry, part of a new European Steel and Metals Action Plan. A draft of the plan seen by Reuters earlier this week showed the EU was studying curbs on metal imports.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Stephane Sejourne, who is tasked with defining the bloc's industrial strategy, said a first measure would be to tighten import quotas, known as safeguards, for multiple steel grades from April 1, which would cut inflows by approximately 15%.
Volumes imported within the quotas reflect traditional trade flows and are not subject to tariffs. Any steel imports outside the quota will be hit by a 25% tariff. Since July 2019, the quota levels have increased by over 25% as the bloc complies with WTO rules.
In 2024, the EU imported about 60 million tonnes of steel out of which 30 million tonnes were within the tariff-free quota.
The Commission will also set out new measures in the third quarter to replace the reinforced safeguards, which under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules cannot be extended beyond June 30, 2026.
Sejourne said the new mechanism will be much stricter after appeals from the industry. The details are still to be determined.
Sejourne forecast that, with the United States market now making less commercial sense, producers from Canada, India and China would look to sell increasing volumes in Europe.
Among non-trade measures, a pilot programme with the European Investment Bank to guarantee long-term power contracts will prioritise steel and aluminium producers. The details will be announced in the second quarter of 2025.
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