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EU officials have announced plans to adopt the United States' steel tariffs, increasing to double levies on imports to 50% in a action condemned as "a survival risk" to the industry in the UK.

Major Challenge for British Steel Industry

Given that eighty percent of British exports destined for the EU, this policy shift creates the British steel sector's largest crisis, according to the lobby group representing the sector.

European Commission Measures and Rules

Through its proposal submitted to the European parliament on Tuesday, the EU executive also proposed slashing the existing quota for tariff-exempt steel and obliging foreign suppliers to declare where the steel was melted and poured to prevent Chinese producers sneaking products in through third nations.

The European steel industry faced potential collapse – we are protecting it so that investments can be made, reduce emissions, and become competitive again.

Overhaul of Current Framework

The proposals are intended to supersede a import framework that has been functioning for the past seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now seen as ineffective. To do nothing could have been "fatal" for the industry, one EU official said.

Industry Reaction and Concerns

However, industry representatives, head of the industry body UK Steel, stated Brussels increasing duties would create "the most severe challenge the British steel sector has encountered".

There were calls for the UK authorities to "recognise the critical necessity to put in place domestic protections to protect" the UK steel industry – which is affected by a 25% tariff imposed by Trump recently – from the risk of millions of tonnes of global steel redirected from US and European markets.

This flood of imports "could be terminal for numerous steel companies.

Union and Political 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 begin talks immediately with the European Union on country-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the United Kingdom was now the European Union's primary export market.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the European Union have repeatedly cautioned for months that their own industry confronts being "wiped out" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US combined with rising energy prices 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, renewable energy equipment and railways to household appliances and cutlery.

Implementation and Next Steps

The new measures require approval by member states and the European parliament, with the EU executive head urging national governments and MEPs to act fast in backing the initiative.

If the plan is ratified, the EU will reduce its existing tariff-free allowance by 47% to 18.3 million tons a year, a volume previously recorded in 2013. It will apply a fifty percent tariff on foreign steel beyond the quota and oblige nations exporting into the EU to state where the steel was melted and poured to prevent circumvention of the measures.

Exemptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will not be subject to import limits or tariffs because of their strong economic ties in the EEA, the EU has confirmed.

In addition to these measures, the European Union is pursuing a "steel partnership" with the United States to ringfence their respective economies from excess production.

EU must take immediate action, and decisively, before all lights go out in large parts of the EU steel industry and its supply networks.