Safeguarding the European steel and metals industry

These include tariffs to stabilise the European market for steel and steel-intensive products. These and further measures must be aligned with the level of trade defence instruments already introduced by trading partners such as the United States and Canada.

The European Green Deal was developed at a time of relative geopolitical stability. Today, the EU is confronted with trade conflicts, unfair competition, sharply rising subsidised imports, and persistently high production costs. As a result, manufacturers of steel and steel-intensive products—and thus entire value chains in Europe—are acutely at risk.

The signatories fully support the EU's climate objectives. However, achieving these goals requires a fair globally competitive framework that enables European companies to decarbonise while remaining internationally competitive.

In line with competitors such as China, India and the United States, the European Commission and Member States must define clear "Made in EU" requirements for strategic materials such as steel and other critical products. This must be accompanied by competitive energy prices as well as targeted labour market and industrial policies to ensure security of supply, foster innovation and decarbonisation, and safeguard industrial capabilities and jobs in the EU.

Without decisive and immediate action, Europe risks losing more than 13 million direct jobs in the steel and metals industry. In addition, up to 65 million further jobs depend indirectly on this sector. Such losses would create new dependencies on third countries and place a massive burden on Europe's social security systems. Economic decline of this magnitude could also lead to social unrest and jeopardise the continent's democratic stability.