EU proposes to cut steel imports by 15% by tightening quotas – Reuters

The European Union will tighten quotas on steel imports to reduce the inflow of steel products by another 15% starting in April. This was stated by the Executive Vice President of the European Commission Stefan Sejourne, Reuters reports.

In this way, the bloc seeks to prevent the European market from being flooded with cheap steel after the introduction of new tariffs by the United States.

As Sejourne said in a conversation with the agency, at a time when no one respects WTO rules and everyone refers to national security, the EU cannot be the only continent that allows its industry to fall apart.

Given that the US market is now less commercially attractive due to the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed by the Trump administration, the EC executive vice president predicts that producers from Canada, India and China will seek to sell more and more in Europe.

Sejourne said that the first measure will be to reduce import quotas for several steel grades starting April 1, which will reduce the inflow of steel products to the EU by about 15%. The volumes imported within the quotas reflect established trade flows and are not subject to duty, while shipments in excess of the quotas are subject to a 25% tariff.

In 2024, the European Union imported about 60 million tons of steel, half of which was under the duty-free quota.

European steel producers, already struggling with high energy prices and competition from Asian and other countries, warn that the EU risks becoming a dumping ground for cheap steel diverted from the US market.

For example, the Spanish Celsa Group has joined these warnings, as Stéphane Sejourne visited the company’s plant in Castelbisbal at the end of last week. Thus, Rafael Villaseca, President of Celsa Group, noted that large volumes of imported steel produced under environmental and social conditions incompatible with European standards are displacing environmentally friendly and sustainable European production and jeopardizing the viability of local producers. It is also unacceptable that triangulation of trade with third countries is used to circumvent tariff quotas set by the EU.

Jordi Cazorla, CEO of Celsa Group, added that deindustrialization has already become a reality, with the loss of 29 million tons of annual production over the past decade.

As GMK Center reported earlier, on March 19, the European Commission released its Steel and Metals Action Plan. According to the document, the Commission will propose a new long-term solution for safeguard measures in the sector by the end of the year, as the current ones expire on July 1, 2026.