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The European Union have announced they will match the United States' steel tariffs, effectively doubling levies on imports to 50% in a move condemned as "a survival risk" to the industry in Britain.

Unprecedented Crisis for UK Steel Exports

With eighty percent of British exports going to the EU, this policy shift represents the UK steel industry's most severe crisis, as stated by the lobby group speaking for the industry.

New EU Measures and Regulations

In its plan submitted to the European parliament this week, the European Commission additionally suggested reducing the current allowance for duty-free imports and requiring foreign suppliers to state where the steel was melted and poured to prevent China diverting exports through third nations.

EU steel sector stood at the brink of failure – we are protecting it so that it can invest, decarbonise, and regain competitiveness.

Replacement of Existing System

These measures 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 considered not fit for purpose. Inaction could have been "catastrophic" for the industry, one EU official said.

Sector Response and Warnings

However, Gareth Stace, from the trade association UK Steel, stated EU doubling its tariffs would pose "the most severe challenge the UK steel industry has ever faced".

He called on the government to "recognise the urgent need to implement domestic protections to protect" the UK steel industry – which is still reeling from a twenty-five percent duty from the US earlier this year – from the threat of millions of tonnes of world steel diverted away from US and European markets.

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

Labor and Political Pressure

Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at labor union the industry union, stated the proposed changes represented "a survival risk" to UK steel.

Labor and business representatives called on the UK government to begin talks immediately with the EU on nation-specific duty-free quotas, noting that the United Kingdom was now the EU's primary trading partner.

Broader Context

Sector representatives in the European Union have repeatedly cautioned for several months that their own industry faces being "eliminated" through the increased duties on American market shipments combined with high energy costs and cheap Chinese competition.

Steel on in both the UK and EU is considered a foundational industry, providing elemental components in everything from skyscraper structures, wind turbines and transport infrastructure to household appliances and kitchenware.

Adoption and Next Steps

These proposals must be agreed by EU nations and the European parliament, with the EU executive head calling on national governments and MEPs to move quickly in support of the proposal.

If the plan is ratified, the EU will reduce its current duty-free quota by forty-seven percent to 18.3m tonnes a year, a level previously recorded in 2013. It will apply a fifty percent tariff on imports exceeding the limit and require nations exporting into the EU to declare where the steel was melted and poured to avoid bypassing of the sanctions.

Exemptions and Global Partnerships

Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein will be exempt from tariff quotas or tariffs due to their close trading relationship in the European Economic Area, the EU has said.

In addition to these measures, the European Union is pursuing a "metals alliance" with the United States to ringfence their respective economies from overcapacity.

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