The EU has been strengthening protective measures against steel imports since April

The European Commission (EC) has confirmed that it will tighten restrictions on steel imports starting in April to protect the European steel industry. This is stated in the report of the institution.

In particular, new supply limits were introduced for residual quotas (quotas of “other countries”) for 16 product categories – 13-30% per country, depending on the imported product.

The EU reduced the annual liberalization rate (annual increase in tariff quota) from 1% to 0.1%, further limiting the total amount of steel that can be imported into the bloc duty-free.

In addition, countries will no longer be able to rely on the entire volume of unused quotas from other countries, including Russia and Belarus. The EC decided to keep only 35% of the sanctioned volumes for certain import categories (1A, 7, 16 and 21), which include hot-rolled steel (strips and plates), heavy plates, wire rod and hollow sections. For category 24 (other seamless pipes), the redistribution of sanctioned volumes will be completely canceled.

Also, the mechanism for rolling over unused quotas to the next quarter will be canceled for categories with high import pressure and low consumption.

“The enhanced measures will enable steelmakers in the EU to increase production and thus regain lost market share. They also aim to increase employment and investment in green steel production,” the European Commission said in a statement.

The changes come at a time when European steelmakers are facing pressure from global overcapacity, rising exports from China and tightening trade barriers in key markets such as the United States. The decision was made after a review investigation requested by 13 EU member states.

Most of the adjustments will come into force on April 1, 2025, and two more on July 1, 2025 (slower pace of liberalization and elimination of the carry-over mechanism in certain categories). The amendments to the safeguard quota system do not affect the duration of this mechanism – it will legally expire on June 30, 2026.

Earlier, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Stefan Sejourne said that the EU would tighten restrictions on steel imports to reduce imports of steel products by another 15% starting in April. In this way, the bloc aims to prevent the European market from being flooded with cheap steel after the introduction of new tariffs by the United States.