According to Euronews, the EU has proposed halving the amount of duty-free steel imports and imposing a 50% levy on imports exceeding the quota of 18.3 million tons per year.
The European steel industry is suffering from overproduction in China and US trade duties, and its survival is threatened. Representatives of the sector are sounding the alarm about the fate of thousands of jobs in the industry due to the impact of, on the one hand, Chinese surpluses entering the EU market and, on the other hand, the US policy on steel producers in Europe. Having agreed to 15% duties on imports from the EU, Washington retained 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The sector currently provides around 2.5 million jobs across the EU. In 2024, Germany, Italy and France were the main producers. According to EUROFER, which represents Europe’s leading steel producers, Thyssenkrupp Steel alone has announced plans to cut up to 11,000 jobs by 2030. That’s about 40% of its workforce in Germany. Thousands of jobs are also under threat at ArcelorMittal, the world’s second largest steel producer.
According to IndustriAll, the European steelworkers’ union, 18,000 jobs were cut in the EU last year. Industry representatives believe the situation could worsen due to Trump’s trade policy. Since June this year, when the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on steel imports, a flood of subsidized Chinese products has been diverted from the U.S. to the EU market, depressing prices and profits for European producers.
In response to the crisis, they propose a quota system. This is in line with a proposal put forward by France and supported by 10 other EU member states, which notes that the new system “should apply to all third countries without exception.”
The European Commission has already imposed safeguard measures to limit foreign steel imports since 2019. They expire in 2026.EUROFER representatives argue that the current rules are no longer sufficient, as foreign steel imports have doubled over this period. According to OECD data, its oversupply in the world amounted to 720 million tons in 2024.
Negotiations between Brussels and Washington will resume after the EC finalizes its approach to protecting the sector. They are expected to be complicated as Trump insists on the return of production capacity to the US.
