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EU officials revealed they will match Donald Trump's import duties on steel, effectively doubling levies on foreign steel to fifty percent in a move described as "a critical danger" to the sector in Britain.

Unprecedented Crisis for UK Steel Industry

With eighty percent of British exports going to the EU, this policy shift creates the British steel sector's most severe challenge, according to the industry association representing the sector.

New EU Measures and Rules

Through its proposal presented to the EU legislature this week, the EU executive also proposed slashing the current allowance for tariff-exempt steel and obliging foreign suppliers to state the origin of steel production to stop China sneaking products in through third nations.

The European steel industry stood at the brink of failure – we are protecting it so that it can invest, reduce emissions, and regain competitiveness.

Overhaul of Existing System

These measures are designed to replace a import framework that has been functioning for the past seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now seen as not fit for purpose. To do nothing could have been "catastrophic" for the sector, a European official stated.

Sector Response and Concerns

However, industry representatives, from the trade association UK Steel, said Brussels increasing duties would pose "the biggest crisis the UK steel industry has ever faced".

He called on the UK authorities to "acknowledge the critical necessity to implement domestic protections to defend" the British steel sector – which is affected by a 25% duty from Trump earlier this year – from the threat of vast quantities of world steel diverted away from American and EU markets.

This surge in foreign steel "might prove terminal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Labor and Government Calls

Union leaders, representative at steelworkers' union Community, stated the proposed changes posed "a survival risk" to British steel production.

Unions and industry leaders called on the UK government to begin talks immediately with the EU on nation-specific tariff exemptions, noting that the United Kingdom was now the EU's No 1 export market.

Broader Context

Sector representatives in the European Union have repeatedly cautioned for months that the European steel sector confronts being "eliminated" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US along with high energy costs and cheap Chinese competition.

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

Adoption and Future Actions

These proposals must be agreed by member states and the European parliament, with the European Commission president calling on national governments and European parliament members to move quickly in support of the proposal.

If the plan is ratified, the European Union will cut its current duty-free quota by forty-seven percent to 18.3m tonnes a annually, a level last seen in 2013. It will apply a 50% duty on imports beyond the quota and require nations shipping to the EU to declare where the steel was melted and poured to prevent circumvention of the sanctions.

Exemptions and International Cooperation

Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein 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 European Union is pursuing a "metals alliance" with the US to ringfence their national industries from overcapacity.

The European Union must take immediate action, and firmly, before all lights go out in significant portions of the EU steel industry and its supply networks.