The European Commission is reportedly planning to impose tariffs of 25% to 50% on steel and related products from China in the coming weeks, in response to pressure faced by the European steel industry. The EU has not officially commented on this yet.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has already stated earlier this month that a new mechanism will be introduced to restrict steel imports in order to protect local producers. She highlighted that global steel overcapacity continues to squeeze profit margins, undermining the ability of European steel companies to invest in carbon reduction.
The current steel safeguard measures in the EU are expected to expire in mid-2026. According to WTO regulations, safeguard measures cannot be extended indefinitely and must be reviewed or replaced within a certain period.
To strengthen protection for the domestic steel industry, the European Commission announced in March adjustments to the existing safeguard measures. The annual liberalization rate for duty-free steel imports was reduced from 1% to 0.1%, and for product categories facing significant import pressure, unused quotas are no longer carried over to the next quarter, with inter-country transfers of unused quotas also being prohibited.
Under the new system, steel imports within the quota still enjoy duty-free treatment; however, exceeding the quota limit may lead to additional tariffs (currently at 25%) or other trade defense measures.
The European steel industry is facing competition pressure from low-priced products from China and other regions. Analysts believe that China’s steel exports this year are expected to reach a historical high with an increase ranging from 4% to 9%, totaling between 1.15 billion to 1.2 billion tons. China produces over half of the global steel production, but due to a sluggish domestic real estate market, it is urgently seeking new overseas markets.
According to statistics from the China Trade Remedy Information website under the Ministry of Commerce of the CCP, since 2024, various countries have introduced approximately 54 tariffs and other trade barriers against Chinese steel. Experts anticipate that as China’s steel exports continue to expand, more restrictive measures may be imposed in the future.
In addition to competing with low-priced Chinese products, the European steel industry also faces tariffs as high as 50% imposed by the United States, putting European steel companies in a difficult international competitive position.
Against this backdrop, the EU activated a customs monitoring system at the end of July, conducting surveillance on the import and export of metal scrap, including iron scrap (including steel), aluminum, and copper, to address industry warnings of supply shortages and potential smelter shutdowns.
For a long time, the European metal and smelting industry has faced challenges of unstable sources of scrap metal materials. Industry and policymakers generally agree that scrap metal is an important part of the EU’s carbon reduction and circular economy transition, serving as a key support for promoting sustainable development in the metal industry.