EU's Proposal to Align With Trump's Steel Tariffs Spurs 'Survival Risk' to UK's Steel Industry

The European Union revealed plans to match Donald Trump's import duties on steel, increasing to double taxes on imports to fifty percent in a decision condemned as "a critical danger" to the sector in Britain.

Major Challenge for British Steel Exports

Given that 80% of UK steel shipments going to the EU, this policy shift poses the UK steel industry's most severe crisis, as stated by the lobby group speaking for the sector.

European Commission Proposals and Regulations

In its plan presented to the European parliament this week, the EU executive additionally suggested slashing the current allowance for duty-free imports and requiring international producers to declare the origin of steel production to stop China diverting exports through third nations.

The European steel industry was on the verge of collapse – we are protecting it so that it can invest, decarbonise, and become competitive again.

Replacement of Existing System

The proposals are intended to supersede a import framework that has been in operation for the last seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now seen as outdated. Inaction could have been "catastrophic" for the sector, one EU official said.

Sector Reaction and Warnings

Nevertheless, Gareth Stace, from the industry body British Steel, said EU increasing duties would create "the biggest crisis the UK steel industry has encountered".

There were calls for the government to "recognise the urgent need to implement domestic protections to defend" the British steel sector – which is affected by a twenty-five percent duty from the US recently – from the risk of millions of tonnes of global steel redirected from American and EU markets.

This flood of imports "might prove terminal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Union and Government Calls

Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at steelworkers' union the industry union, said the new measures posed "a survival risk" to British steel production.

Unions and industry leaders urged the UK government to start negotiations immediately with the EU on nation-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the UK was now the European Union's primary trading partner.

Broader Context

Sector representatives in the EU have repeatedly cautioned for months that the European steel sector faces being "wiped out" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US along with rising energy prices and low-cost Chinese imports.

Steel on in both the UK and EU is considered a essential sector, providing basic materials in products ranging from building frameworks, renewable energy equipment and railways to dishwashers and kitchenware.

Implementation and Future Actions

These proposals must be agreed by member states and the European parliament, with the European Commission president calling on national governments and European parliament members to move quickly in support of the initiative.

Should approval be granted, the EU will reduce its existing tariff-free allowance by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a annually, a level previously recorded in 2013. It will impose a fifty percent duty on foreign steel exceeding the limit and oblige nations exporting into the EU to declare where the steel was melted and poured to avoid bypassing of the sanctions.

Exceptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will be exempt from import limits or duties due to their close trading relationship in the EEA, the European Union has said.

Alongside the proposal, the EU is pursuing a "steel partnership" with the United States to ringfence their national industries from overcapacity.

The European Union must take immediate action, and decisively, prior to all lights go out in significant portions of the European steel sector and its value chains.