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EU officials have announced plans to match Donald Trump's steel tariffs, effectively doubling levies on foreign steel to fifty percent in a action described as "an existential threat" to the sector in Britain.

Unprecedented Crisis for UK Steel Exports

With eighty percent of British exports going to the EU, this policy shift creates the British steel sector's biggest ever challenge, according to the lobby group representing the sector.

New EU Measures and Regulations

Through its proposal presented to the European parliament this week, the EU executive also proposed reducing the current allowance for tariff-exempt steel and obliging foreign suppliers to disclose where the steel was melted and poured to prevent China diverting exports through third nations.

The European steel industry stood at the brink of failure – these measures safeguard it so that investments can be made, reduce emissions, and become competitive again.

Replacement of Existing System

These measures are intended to supersede a import framework that has been in operation for the past seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now seen as not fit for purpose. To do nothing could have been "fatal" for the industry, a European official said.

Sector Reaction and Warnings

However, Gareth Stace, from the industry body UK Steel, said EU increasing duties would pose "the most severe challenge the UK steel industry has encountered".

He called on 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 from Trump recently – from the threat of millions of tonnes of global steel diverted away from American and EU markets.

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

Union and Government Calls

Alasdair McDiarmid, representative at labor union the industry union, said the proposed changes represented "a survival risk" to British steel production.

Unions and industry leaders urged the UK government to begin talks immediately with the European Union on country-specific duty-free quotas, pointing out that the UK was now the EU's primary export market.

Broader Context

Industry leaders in the European Union have repeatedly cautioned for several months that the European steel sector faces being "wiped out" through the increased duties on exports to the US along with high energy costs and low-cost Chinese imports.

Steel on in both the UK and EU is considered a foundational industry, providing basic materials in products ranging from skyscraper structures, renewable energy equipment and transport infrastructure to household appliances and cutlery.

Implementation and Future Actions

These proposals require approval by member states and the EU legislature, with the EU executive head urging member states and MEPs to move quickly in backing the proposal.

Should approval be granted, the European Union will cut 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 duty on imports exceeding the limit and oblige nations shipping to the EU to state where the steel was melted and poured to prevent circumvention of the sanctions.

Exemptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will not be subject to import limits or tariffs because of their close trading relationship in the European Economic Area, the European Union has confirmed.

In addition to these measures, the EU is pursuing a "steel partnership" with the US to protect their national industries from excess production.

The European Union must take immediate action, and firmly, prior to all lights go out in significant portions of the European steel sector and its supply networks.