The regulation came into effect on Friday June 6 and will run until June 5, 2028.
The announcement marks the first time that the annual renewal of the exemption has been granted a three-year shelf life since it was first implemented in June 2022.
The latest extension, which removes restrictions and additional tariffs on steel imports from Ukraine, aims to “ease the challenges” faced by the country’s “producers and exporters as a result of the war [with Russia],” the Council said in the press release.
But the European Commission reserves the right to suspend the regulation for a period not exceeding 12 months, if steel imports from Ukraine increase to volumes that “contribute significantly to the serious injury or threat of serious injury to [European] Union producers,” the statement reads.
The extension follows US President Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from its trade partners to 50% on Wednesday June 4.
The US suspended its Section 232 import tariffs on steel from Ukraine in May 2022, under the administration of then-President Joe Biden, following the Russian invasion earlier in the year. But tariff exclusions expired on March 12, 2025.
Market brief
Europe remained Ukraine’s largest trading partner in 2024, with Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, Greece and Moldova being the major destinations for Ukrainian steel exports, Global Trade Tracker (GTT) data showed. In 2024, steel deliveries from Ukraine to these six countries amounted to 3.38 million tonnes, 58% of Ukraine’s total steel exports of 5.84 million tonnes.
The trend continued in 2025 with a total of over 1 million tonnes of Ukrainian iron and steel delivered to EU states in the first quarter of the year.
