A surge in steel derivatives imports is quietly eroding Europe’s industrial base and threatening more than three million jobs across the steel, manufacturing, construction, mobility, and energy sectors, distributors’ association EUROMETAL writes in a letter sent to EU policymakers.
It notes that these steel derivatives are not classified as steel under EU customs codes and therefore largely bypass the EU’s existing trade defence instruments (TDIs) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
To restore fairness and competitiveness, EUROMETAL is calling for the EU to extend CBAM and its TDIs to cover these products, adopt a European “melt & pour” tracking system, and strengthen customs surveillance to close classification loopholes, Kallanish notes.
The letter cautions that urgent intervention is needed with the “silent circumvention” weakening the EU’s industrial strength and climate goals. This is especially the case in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, electrification, mobility, defence and infrastructure.
This loophole creates a dual market distortion with EU producers and distributors bound by strict environmental, carbon pricing, and trade compliance obligations, while imported steel-intensive goods face none of these requirements, it says.
The result is a growing influx of cheap, high-carbon products from regions with subsidised, overcapacity-driven steel industries, particularly in Asia, that undercut European manufacturers on price and compliance costs.
Between 2010 and 2024, imports of steel derivatives into the EU more than doubled, rising by over 213% to surpass 8 million tonnes. The surge is concentrated in the sectors of automotive, machinery, electrical equipment, and prefabricated structures, which account for most of the import growth.
It also highlights how these imports have coincided with the weakening performance in the basic metals, fabricated metal products, machinery, automotive, and furniture sectors.
Many of these imported products are manufactured using carbon-intensive steel and processed abroad, meaning that the EU is not only losing industrial capacity but also exporting its environmental footprint, it says.
It also notes the extension of the Section 232 tariffs by the US on more than 400 categories of steel derivatives and that the country introduced a “melt & pour” rule, requiring exporters to declare where the steel was originally melted and cast. The EU’s lack of similar mechanisms has turned Europe into a dumping ground for high-carbon steel derivatives diverted from the US market, EUROMETAL warns.
Elina Virchenko UAE
