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EU officials have announced plans to mirror the United States' steel tariffs, effectively doubling levies on foreign steel to fifty percent in a decision condemned as "a survival risk" to the sector in the UK.

Unprecedented Crisis for British Steel Industry

With eighty percent of British exports going to the European Union, this change creates the British steel sector's biggest ever challenge, according to the lobby group speaking for the industry.

European Commission Proposals and Rules

In its plan submitted to the EU legislature this week, the European Commission also proposed cutting the existing quota for tariff-exempt steel and requiring international producers to declare where the steel was melted and poured to prevent China sneaking products in through third nations.

EU steel sector was on the verge of collapse – these measures safeguard it so that investments can be made, decarbonise, and become competitive again.

Replacement of Current Framework

These measures are designed to supersede a import framework that has been functioning for the last seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now considered ineffective. To do nothing could have been "catastrophic" for the industry, a European official said.

Industry Reaction and Concerns

Nevertheless, Gareth Stace, head of the trade association British Steel, stated Brussels doubling its tariffs would create "the most severe challenge the UK steel industry has ever faced".

There were calls for the government to "recognise the critical necessity to implement domestic protections to defend" the UK steel industry – which is still reeling from a twenty-five percent tariff from Trump recently – from the threat of vast quantities of world steel redirected from American and EU markets.

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

Labor and Political Calls

Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at steelworkers' union Community, stated the new measures posed "a survival risk" to UK steel.

Labor and business representatives urged the UK government to begin talks immediately with the European Union on country-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the United Kingdom was now the EU's primary trading partner.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the EU have also been warning for months that their own industry faces being "eliminated" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US along with rising energy prices and low-cost Chinese imports.

Steel on in both the UK and EU is considered a essential sector, supplying basic materials in everything from building frameworks, wind turbines and railways to household appliances and cutlery.

Adoption and Future Actions

The new measures require approval by member states and the EU legislature, with the EU executive head calling on national governments and European parliament members to act fast in support of the initiative.

Should approval be granted, the European Union 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 duty on foreign steel exceeding the limit and oblige countries exporting into the bloc to declare the production origin to avoid bypassing of the sanctions.

Exceptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will be exempt from tariff quotas or duties because of their strong economic ties in the European Economic Area, the European Union has confirmed.

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

The European Union needs to act now, and firmly, prior to all lights go out in significant portions of the European steel sector and its value chains.