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EU officials revealed plans to adopt the United States' import duties on steel, effectively doubling levies on foreign steel to 50% in a action condemned as "a survival risk" to the industry in Britain.

Unprecedented Crisis for British Steel Exports

With 80% of UK steel shipments going to the European Union, this change represents the British steel sector's biggest ever challenge, according to the industry association speaking for the sector.

European Commission Proposals and Rules

In its plan submitted to the EU legislature this week, the European Commission also proposed reducing the current allowance for tariff-exempt steel and obliging international producers to state the origin of steel production to prevent China diverting exports through other countries.

EU steel sector was on the verge of collapse – we are protecting it so that investments can be made, reduce emissions, and become competitive again.

Replacement of Current Framework

These measures are intended to supersede a quota system that has been in operation for the last seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now considered not fit for purpose. Inaction could have been "catastrophic" for the industry, a European official said.

Sector Reaction and Warnings

Nevertheless, Gareth Stace, head of the trade association UK Steel, stated EU increasing duties would pose "the biggest crisis the UK steel industry has encountered".

There were calls for the government to "recognise the critical necessity to put in place its own measures to protect" the British steel sector – which is still reeling from a twenty-five percent duty imposed by the US earlier this year – from the threat of vast quantities of global steel diverted away from American and EU markets.

This flood of imports "might prove fatal for numerous steel companies.

Union and Government Pressure

Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at labor union Community, stated the new measures posed "an existential threat" to UK steel.

Unions and industry leaders called on Keir Starmer to begin talks urgently with the EU on country-specific duty-free quotas, pointing out that the UK was now the EU's No 1 export market.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the EU have repeatedly cautioned for several months that the European steel sector faces being "wiped out" through the new 50% tariffs 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 essential sector, providing basic materials in everything from building frameworks, renewable energy equipment and transport infrastructure to household appliances and cutlery.

Adoption and Future Actions

These proposals must be agreed by EU nations and the European parliament, with the European Commission president urging member states and MEPs to move quickly in backing the proposal.

Should approval be granted, the European Union 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 tariff on foreign steel exceeding the limit and require nations shipping to the bloc to declare the production origin to prevent circumvention of the measures.

Exceptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will not be subject to import limits or duties due to their close trading relationship in the European Economic Area, the European Union has said.

In addition to these measures, the EU is seeking a "metals alliance" with the United States to ringfence their national industries from excess production.

EU must take immediate action, and decisively, prior to operations cease in significant portions of the EU steel industry and its value chains.