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EU officials revealed plans to adopt the United States' steel tariffs, increasing to double taxes on foreign steel to fifty percent in a decision described as "a survival risk" to the sector in the UK.

Major Challenge for UK Steel Exports

Given that 80% of UK steel shipments going to the EU, this change creates the UK steel industry's biggest ever crisis, as stated by the industry association representing the industry.

New EU Measures and Regulations

In its plan presented to the EU legislature this week, the EU executive additionally suggested reducing the current allowance for duty-free imports and obliging international producers to state the origin of steel production to stop China diverting exports through third nations.

EU steel sector faced potential collapse – we are protecting it so that it can invest, decarbonise, and become competitive again.

Replacement of Current Framework

The proposals are intended to supersede a import framework that has been functioning for the past seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now considered outdated. To do nothing could have been "disastrous" for the industry, one EU official stated.

Industry Response and Warnings

However, industry representatives, head of the trade association British Steel, said Brussels doubling its tariffs would create "the biggest crisis the British steel sector has encountered".

There were calls for the UK authorities to "recognise the critical necessity to put in place its own measures to protect" the UK steel industry – which is still reeling from a 25% tariff imposed by the US earlier this year – from the risk of vast quantities of world steel diverted away from US and European markets.

This surge in foreign steel "might prove fatal for numerous steel companies.

Labor and Government Pressure

Union leaders, assistant general secretary at steelworkers' union Community, stated the new measures represented "a survival risk" to UK steel.

Labor and business representatives called on Keir Starmer to start negotiations immediately with the European Union on country-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the UK was now the EU's primary export market.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the EU have repeatedly cautioned for months that their own industry confronts being "wiped out" through the increased duties on exports to the US combined with high energy costs and cheap Chinese competition.

Steel on in both the UK and EU is described as a foundational industry, supplying elemental components in everything from skyscraper structures, wind turbines and railways to dishwashers and cutlery.

Adoption and Next Steps

The new measures must be agreed by member states and the European parliament, with the EU executive head calling on national governments and MEPs to act fast in support of the proposal.

If the plan is ratified, the European Union will cut its current duty-free quota by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a year, a level previously recorded in 2013. It will impose a 50% duty on foreign steel exceeding the limit and oblige nations exporting into the bloc to declare where the steel was melted and poured to avoid bypassing of the measures.

Exceptions and International Cooperation

These European nations will be exempt from tariff quotas or tariffs due to their close trading relationship in the European Economic Area, the EU has confirmed.

In addition to these measures, the EU is seeking a "steel partnership" with the US to ringfence their respective economies from excess production.

EU needs to act now, and firmly, before all lights go out in significant portions of the EU steel industry and its supply networks.