Eurofer: US tariffs threaten European steel and European sovereignty
The imposition of a 25% blanket tariff by the United States’ administration on all steel imports exacerbates an already dire market environment for the European steel industry and poses a genuine threat to its future. The sector expects the European Union to respond with an effective revision of the steel safeguard measures that will mitigate the impact of the U.S. tariffs and ensure the longevity of the industry in the long-term, says the European Steel Association.
“President Trump’s ‘America First’ policy threatens to be a final nail in the coffin of the European steel industry. If European steel disappears, so too does European automotive, European security and defence, energy infrastructure, transportation and others. What is at stake is European sovereignty”, said Dr. Henrik Adam, President of the European Steel Association (Eurofer). “Under the first Trump administration, we already witnessed the huge impact of Section 232. EU steel exports to the U.S. decreased by over 1 million tonnes, while for every three tonnes of steel deflected from the US market because of Section 232, two tonnes arrived in the EU.
Today, the overall market situation for European steel is much worse than in 2018. These new measures imposed by Trump are more extensive, therefore the impact of the U.S. tariffs is likely to be far greater”, continued Dr. Adam.
Firstly, the Trump administration has removed all product exemptions and Tariff Rate Quotas that the EU had previously negotiated. With EU steel exports to the U.S. already having fallen by 1 million tonnes, the EU now stands to lose at least another 1 million tonnes of steel exports to the US. Moreover, the blanket import tariff also now includes ‘derivative’ steel products, reducing export opportunities for a further 1 million tonnes of EU products.
Secondly, with global excess capacity having reached record levels in 2024 and set to increase again in 2025, the EU market – already saturated with cheap steel imports from Asia, North Africa and the Middle East – will be further flooded as steel intended for the US market will be redirected. 18 million tonnes of steel were exported to the U.S. under preferential regimes and are now at risk of deflection towards the EU market. EU steel production, which lost 9 million tonnes of capacity and 18,000 jobs in 2024 alone, is at even greater risk. There is also the prospect that yet more steel will be deflected to the EU market if additional reciprocal tariffs are imposed by the U.S.
“Simply put, while all other countries – today the U.S. – protect their national steel production, the EU has had the most vulnerable market in the world”, said Dr. Adam. “Our producers already face the highest energy prices while having the highest climate ambition. Meanwhile, they are being undercut by cheaper, more carbon intensive foreign imports”, he added.
In view of the existential threat to European steel caused by the spill-over of global overcapacity, foreign subsidies and dumping, now compounded by the new U.S. tariffs, the EU has committed to revising the current EU steel safeguard regime by 1 April.
“It is crucial that the revised steel EU safeguard measures are robust and effective to respond immediately and decisively to counter further deflection of steel imports flooding the EU market. The time has come”, concluded Dr. Adam.
Eurofer calls for revised safeguards amid Trump tariffs
European steelmakers’ association Eurofer says it is expecting the EU to urgently revise the existing safeguard regime in response to recently announced tariffs by the US on steel imports, Kallanish notes.
The association expects “the revision of the current EU safeguard regime with impactful measures as a matter of urgency to reflect the dramatic market and trade conditions,” Eurofer president Henrik Adam notes.
Earlier on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the unjustified tariffs will trigger “firm and proportionate countermeasures”.
The Eurofer statement says the safeguards set up in 2018 in response to Section 232 have lost their effectiveness in the years since due to the increase of quotas despite decreasing demand. This has allowed imports to gain significant market share.
It is also calling for the continuation of a comprehensive tariffication system as an absolute necessity, due to the current EU safeguards ending in June 2026. Global steel excess capacity is meanwhile worsening and steel protectionism is increasing worldwide.
“Without an immediate tightening of the current safeguard quota regime, the deflection provoked by the new US steel tariffs will inevitably push EU steel capacity into additional idling and, ultimately, closure,” says Adam.
Eurofer notes that in 2024 alone, the EU steel industry closed 9 million tonnes/year of capacity.
“The Executive Order by President Trump will inevitably further exacerbate the situation,” Adam adds.
Under the current implementation of Section 232 tariffs, European steel producers have had exemptions and the European Commission negotiated a tariff rate quota (TRQ). Despite exemptions and the TRQ, EU-origin steel imports into the US decreased by over 1 million tonnes/year, Eurofer says.
If all product exemptions and TRQs are now removed, the EU could lose up to 3.7m t/y of steel exports to the US. The US is the second-largest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16% of total EU steel exports in 2024.
The association adds this could risk significant trade flow deviations, with volumes usually sent to the US now likely to be massively diverted into the European market.
“Already today, global steel overcapacity is being off-loaded massively on the vulnerable EU steel market at very cheap prices, mainly from Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. This is leading to the inability to invest in the green transition and ultimately de-industrialisation of Europe,” the association concludes.
Carrie Bone UK
