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EU officials declared plans to mirror the United States' import duties on steel, increasing to double levies on imports to fifty percent in a move condemned as "a survival risk" to the sector in the UK.

Unprecedented Crisis for UK Steel Industry

With 80% of UK steel shipments destined for the EU, this policy shift creates the British steel sector's biggest ever crisis, according to the lobby group speaking for the sector.

European Commission Measures and Regulations

In its plan submitted to the European parliament this week, the EU executive also proposed reducing the current allowance for tariff-exempt steel and obliging international producers to declare the origin of steel production to stop China sneaking products in through other countries.

EU steel sector faced potential collapse – these measures safeguard it so that investments can be made, reduce emissions, and become competitive again.

Overhaul of Existing System

The proposals are designed to replace a quota system that has been in operation for the last seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now considered outdated. Inaction could have been "disastrous" for the sector, a European official said.

Industry Response and Warnings

Nevertheless, Gareth Stace, head of the trade association UK Steel, said EU doubling its tariffs would create "the most severe challenge the UK steel industry has encountered".

He called on the UK authorities to "recognise the critical necessity to implement its own measures to defend" the British steel sector – which is affected by a twenty-five percent tariff imposed by the US recently – from the risk of vast quantities of global steel diverted away from US and European markets.

This flood of imports "might prove fatal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Union and Political Pressure

Union leaders, assistant general secretary at labor union the industry union, said the new measures represented "an existential threat" to UK steel.

Unions and industry leaders urged Keir Starmer to begin talks immediately with the European Union on country-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the UK was now the EU's No 1 export market.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the European Union have repeatedly cautioned for several months that their own industry faces being "wiped out" through the increased duties on exports to the US combined with high energy costs and cheap Chinese competition.

The steel industry on both sides of the Channel is described as a foundational industry, supplying elemental components in everything from building frameworks, renewable energy equipment and transport infrastructure to dishwashers and cutlery.

Adoption and Next Steps

These proposals require approval by member states and the EU legislature, with the European Commission president urging national governments and MEPs to move quickly in support of the proposal.

If the plan is ratified, the EU will cut its existing tariff-free allowance by 47% to 18.3 million tons a year, a level previously recorded in 2013. It will apply a fifty percent duty on imports exceeding the limit and oblige nations exporting into the EU to declare where the steel was melted and poured to prevent circumvention of the measures.

Exceptions and International Cooperation

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

Alongside the proposal, the EU is seeking a "metals alliance" with the US to protect their national industries from excess production.

The European Union must take immediate action, and decisively, prior to all lights go out in large parts of the European steel sector and its value chains.