EUROMETAL re-invited by Mrs Von der Leyen to high-level EU Consultation on U.S. Tariffs Impact on Steel
EUROMETAL has received an official invitation from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to participate in a high-level virtual meeting on Monday, 7 April 2025, to discuss the impact of U.S. tariffs on the EU steel and aluminium sectors.
The invitation follows the recent announcement by the U.S. administration to impose tariffs on steel, aluminium, and derivative products, including those originating from the European Union. This development is expected to have significant consequences for global trade and directly affect Europe’s metals industry and supply chains.
In response, the European Commission has launched a revised Steel and Metals Action Plan, effective from 1 April 2025, aimed at reinforcing the EU’s trade defense mechanisms. A new trade measure to replace existing steel safeguards is also under preparation for implementation from 1 July 2026.
The upcoming virtual meeting will serve as a strategic dialogue with key industry stakeholders, aiming to: gather insights on the real and anticipated impact of U.S. tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, explore sector proposals for an effective EU response, and help shape the next phase of EU trade defense policies.
EUROMETAL welcomes this initiative and will actively contribute to the discussion, continuing its mission to represent the interests of the European steel distribution, processing, and trading sectors.
We look forward to engaging with EU decision-makers and other industry leaders to ensure that Europe’s steel value chain remains strong, competitive, and protected.
Spain’s Celsa inks preliminary agreement with CriteriaCaixa to sell 20% stake
Spain-based long steel producer Celsa Group has announced that it has signed a preliminary agreement with Spanish investment company CriteriaCaixa to sell a 20 percent stake in the company. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
This alliance will support Celsa’s ongoing financial restructuring efforts and provide a strong boost to its industrial development strategy.
The process of incorporating a Spanish investor with an industrial focus began with the launch of an operational efficiency plan, financed by a capital increase, and the divestment of certain assets located outside the country, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
Hydnum Steel to supply decarbonized flat steel to Thyssenkrupp’s service center subsidiary
Thyssenkrupp Materials Processing Europe, a service center subsidiary of German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp, has announced that it has signed an agreement with Spain-based Hydnum Steel to join forces to drive the transition to a decarbonized steel industry.
Accordingly, Hydnum Steel will supply Thyssenkrupp Materials Processing Europe with up to an annual 100,000 mt of decarbonized flat steel for an initial period of seven years. The products will be produced at the flat steel plant in Puertollano, Spain, currently under construction.
The agreement will enable Thyssenkrupp Materials Processing Europe, which has a wide range of customers in sectors including the automotive industry, construction and household appliances, to expand its range of environmentally friendly products and respond to the industry’s growing interest in sustainable solutions.
European HDG prices increase on higher offers
New steel safeguard measures, imposed by the European Commission, have limited the interest of the European buyers to purchase imported material. Thus, buyers continued to rely on the domestic mills to cover their needs, Fastmarkets understands.
This put the European producers in a stronger position to push for higher offers. ArcelorMittal announced increased prices for flat steel products across Europe on Tuesday.
The move also affected the HDG prices, with ArcelorMittal’s latest offers for the material in Northern and Southern Europe heard at €820 ($894) per tonne ex-works or delivered, depending on the region, Fastmarkets understands.
Two weeks ago, the highest offers of HDG in Northern Europe had hovered around €780-800 per tonne ex-works, but no transactions at those levels were reported. Offer prices in Italy were slightly lower, at €730-750 per tonne ex-works.
According to industry sources, the upward trend with the domestic HDG prices could be felt now also in the Southern European market.
“All suppliers are fully booked for May and offer June/July delivery material at €810-820 per tonne delivered (€800-810 per tonne ex-works),” a distributor source from the Iberian market told Fastmarkets.
“These levels are high, but there are not many alternatives from imports because of the new safeguard measures,” the source added.
Italy-origin HDG was offered to Germany at €780 per tonne delivered, up by €20 per tonne compared to the previous available price level, Fastmarkets heard.
But buyers’ estimations for the tradeable market levels of HDG for both Southern and Northern Europe remained lower, at €740-760 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, exw Northern Europe was €740-760 per tonne on Wednesday, up by €10 per tonne from €730-750 per tonne on March 26.
And Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, exw Southern Europe also stood at €740-760 per tonne on Wednesday, up by €10 per tonne from €730-750 per tonne on March 26.
Regarding imports, Asian suppliers were heard offering 1mm HDG with Z100-120 coating to Southern Europe at €740-750 per tonne CFR, but the interest in such material remained low due to the trade risks and the long delivery time, Fastmarkets understands.
Julia Bolotova in Brussels contributed to this report.
European Commission President von der Leyen warns US tariffs will hurt global economy, vows to stand up for Europe
“Let’s be clear-eyed about the immense consequences. The global economy will massively suffer,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “Uncertainty will spiral and trigger the rise of further protectionism. The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe.”
On Wednesday, President Trump announced broad-based baseline tariffs of at least 10% on all imported goods into the US, effective April 5. He also announced reciprocal – and much higher, percentage-wise – tariffs on import goods from certain US trade partners with big trade deficits. Levies were set at 34% on Chinese goods and 20% on EU goods, as well as 46% for Vietnam, 32% for Taiwan, 26% for India and 24% for Japan, among others.
Neither Russia nor North Korea were in the list of companies to be hit with tariffs, although there is probably little to no trade between the US and these countries.
Von der Leyen said in the past 80 years trade between the EU and US had created millions of jobs and consumers across the Atlantic had benefitted from reduced prices. The global trade system was not without its flaws, she said.
“I am ready to support any efforts to make the global trading system fit for the realities of the global economy. But I also want to be clear: Reaching for tariffs as your first and last tool will not fix it,” she said.
Von der Leyen called for negotiations between the EU and US to avoid a trade war, but she said the EU was preparing for further countermeasures to protect Europe’s interests and businesses if those negotiations with the US fail.
“As Europeans we will always promote and defend our interests and values. And we will always stand up for Europe,” she said. “But there is an alternative path. It is not too late to address concerns through negotiations.”
Potential countermeasures the EU announced on March 12 in response to US tariffs on aluminium and steel could cover a wide range of agricultural and industrial goods including potentially some wood products, pulp, paper and board.
The Commission also earlier in March opted to delay its set of initial countermeasures on US tariffs from April 1 until mid-April, to coincide with a second package of measures on which the Commission is currently consulting.
European commodity markets struggle to understand impact of latest US tariffs on imports
On Wednesday, President Trump announced broad-based baseline tariffs of at least 10% on all imported goods into the US, effective April 5. He also announced reciprocal — and much higher, percentage-wise — tariffs on import goods from certain US trade partners with big trade deficits. Levies were set at 34% on Chinese goods and 20% on EU goods, as well as 46% for Vietnam, 32% for Taiwan, 26% for India and 24% for Japan, among others.
Neither Russia nor North Korea were in the list of companies to be hit with tariffs, although there is probably little to no trade between the US and these countries.
Steel sector
Steel market participants in Europe were still assessing the impact of new tariffs for the industry. While no additional tariffs were added to steel on April 2, the US had imposed tariffs of up to 25% on imports of steel, aluminium and certain products containing steel and aluminium from the EU and other trading partners on March 12.
“So far there is no stacking [adding up of pre-existing and new tariffs] so steel tariffs for Europe remains at 25%,” the mill source in Europe said.
However, the tariffs are hitting one of major steel-consuming sectors in the EU – automotive.
The automotive industry could now witness combined tariffs of up to 45%: of which 20% will be under Trump’s new “liberalization” measures and a pre-existing 25% levy, announced in March.
Automotive sector accounts for around 20% of total steel consumption in the EU, according to Eurofer.
The US is the second-largest market for the EU vehicle exports after the UK. In terms of value, the US accounts for about one fifth of the EU export market, according to European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). In 2024, 757,654 new vehicles were exported from the EU to the US, worth €38.9 billion.
ACEA highlighted that European manufacturers export 50-60% of the vehicles they make to the US.
Meanwhile, total carbon steel exports from the EU in 2024 amounted to 15.8 million tonnes, with the US share being around 16% or 2.5 million tonnes.
Ursula Von der Leyen confirmed on Thursday the EU was already finalising a first package of tariffs targeting €26 billion-worth worth US goods for mid-April in response to US steel and aluminium tariffs that took effect on March 12.
No details on future measures, however, have been revealed so far.
The effect of the new blanket tariffs would further strain European steel industry that was already dealing with reduced margins, falling demand and rising costs, sources said.