Under the new plan, only 18.3 million tonnes per year of steel would enter the EU without being subject to tariffs, down from existing levels. Steel shipments above that cap would face duty at 50%.
The Commission also confirmed that it will require “melt and pour” origin verification for imported steel, making it harder for goods to be relabelled or transshipped via third countries.
The changes were intended to better shield EU steelmakers from global overcapacity and unfair trade practices, the Commission said on October 7.
The goal was to help the struggling EU steel sector return to sustainable capacity utilization rates near 85%, up from current average of 67%, and to align import market shares with pre-crisis levels of 15% for flat and stainless steel and 5% for long steel.
Apparent steel consumption in the EU amounted to 127 million tonnes in 2024, down by 2.3% from 130 million tonnes in 2023 and lower than during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic year, when it was 129 million tonnes, according to data from European steel industry association Eurofer.
While both steel consumption and production in the EU have declined, the share of steel imports in the European market has been rising, crowding out local supplies, market sources said.
Eurofer data also showed that carbon steel imports into the EU in 2024 amounted to 26.36 million tonnes, up by 6.4% from 2023’s 24.78 million tonnes.
Imports currently accounted for around 25% of the EU flat steel market, stakeholders have estimated.
“We need to act now,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “I urge the Council and Parliament to move ahead quickly. The Commission will continue to work with industry to protect and create good jobs, and with Member States and global partners – including at WTO level – to find long-term solutions to shared challenges.”
The proposals would replace the steel safeguard measures that were set to run until the end of June 2026 under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
Current safeguard measures cover 26 steel product categories, with the out-of-quota duty at 25%.
The Commission claimed that the proposed measures were “fully WTO-compliant.”
“Upon receipt of a mandate from the Council,” a press release read, “the Commission will swiftly engage with affected EU trading partners under the Article XXVIII GATT [General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade] procedure regarding this change to the EU’s WTO tariffs, with a view to offering them country-specific allocations.”
There will be a few exceptions, however. Exports from Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein will not be subject to tariff quotas or duties.
“Separately, interests of a candidate country facing an exceptional and immediate security situation, such as Ukraine, should also be reflected upon when deciding on the quota allocations, without undermining the effectiveness of the measure,” the Commission said.
Details on country-specific allocations have not yet been revealed.
Next steps, timeline
The proposal still requires approval from the European Parliament and Council. If adopted, the new regime would take effect when the existing safeguards expire in mid-2026.
The Commission was expected to defend the plan as both a protective and strategic measure – not just for the steel sector, but for the broader ecological and strategic ambitions of the EU.
Winners, losers, market consequences
Steel producers within the EU welcomed the proposal, arguing that it will help to curb the flood of subsidized imports and bolster local production.
The suggestions were in line with a request made by Eurofer earlier this year.
The UK, which is heavily dependent on steel exports to the EU, was swift to sound the alarm, describing the curbs as “disastrous” for its fragile steel sector.
“Given that around 80% of the UK’s steel exports go to Europe, the new measures proposed by the EU represent an existential threat to our industry, as well as the thousands of jobs and communities it supports right across the country,” Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at UK steelworkers’ trade union Community, said in a statement seen by Fastmarkets.
“This development also highlights the urgent need for tightened trade defense measures from the UK, especially because these new EU measures are likely to push a tide of diverted steel products toward our shores,” he added.
For traders, steel processors, tubemakers and other stakeholders reliant on steel imports in Europe, the shift will tighten supply for certain grades, pushing up prices for in-quota steel.
In a draft document seen by Fastmarkets, the quota for hot-rolled coil (HRC), category 1A would be 5,198,712 tonnes per year. For reference, in 2024 the EU imported around 9.4 million tonnes of HRC, according to Global Trade Tracker (GTT) statistics.
The quota for cold-rolled coil (CRC), category 2, would be 1,554,759 tpy, against 3 million tonnes of imports in 2024.
For metallic coated sheet, category 4A, the new quota was suggested at 1,620,686 tpy, and for category 4B at 1,238,995 tpy – around a 50% reduction compared with actual imports around 4.7 million tpy for both categories last year.
Such massive reductions were expected to result in massive trade distortions in the market, sector sources said.
Several of them told Fastmarkets on Tuesday that European steelmakers might make another attempt to raise domestic prices for first-quarter 2026 deliveries, expecting that tougher trade measures and the start of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) would curb buying appetite for new imports.
“Changes in trade regime will entail greater reliance on European [steel] coil and, as a result, higher prices for first-quarter-delivery material,” a buyer in Germany said.
At the same time, other market sources said that they did not expect any immediate affect because the proposed new measures have yet to be officially adopted, although they were expected to come into force in mid-2026.
