Finance
EU debates support for Europe's steel industry as U.S. tariffs loom
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
The EU is considering strategies to support its steel industry amid looming U.S. tariffs, focusing on trade policy, energy costs, and decarbonisation.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hosted steel sector executives on Tuesday for a debate on how to ensure the industry's future health as it faces high energy costs, decarbonisation and impending U.S. tariffs.
The debate, launched eight days before U.S. President Donald Trump is set to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, will look into how to respond to what the bloc sees as unfair trade practices and global overcapacity, notably in China.
Among attendees were executives from the world's second largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp, leaders of global union federation IndustriALL, and representatives from key steel users in carmaking and construction.
One key question will be how to protect EU producers from a potential flood of steel imports diverted from the U.S. into the more open European market.
The EU has safeguards in the form of tariff-free quotas per quarter and per country for various categories of steel dating back to 2018, when Trump imposed metal import tariffs in his first term in office.
Under World Trade Organization rules, such safeguards can only be in place for a maximum of eight years, meaning they will run out during Trump's second term in mid-2026.
The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, has said it is looking into extending the safeguards or putting in place an alternative mechanism. It could also tighten the current system.
EU steel demand is likely to have fallen in 2024 for a second consecutive year.
The bloc's iron and steel imports totalled 39.5 billion euros ($41.5 billion) last year, while its exports of iron and steel to the U.S. were worth 5.4 billion euros, according to EU statistics office Eurostat.
The Commission also intends to gauge the industry's view on energy prices, including prospects for low-carbon hydrogen as a fuel, raw materials supply and how best to promote demand for low-carbon steel and secure investments.
($1 = 0.9512 euros)
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Tiffany Vermeylen; Editing by Jan Harvey)
The main concern is how to protect EU producers from a potential flood of steel imports diverted from the U.S. into the European market due to impending tariffs.
Under World Trade Organization rules, the current safeguards can only be in place for a maximum of eight years, which means they will expire during Trump's second term in mid-2026.
The EU's iron and steel imports totaled 39.5 billion euros last year, while its exports of iron and steel to the U.S. were worth 5.4 billion euros.
The European Commission is looking into extending the current safeguards or implementing an alternative mechanism to protect the steel industry.
EU steel demand is likely to have fallen in 2024 for a second consecutive year, indicating ongoing challenges for the industry.
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