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EU officials declared they will adopt Donald Trump's import duties on steel, increasing to double taxes on foreign steel to fifty percent in a action described as "an existential threat" to the industry in Britain.

Major Challenge for British Steel Industry

With eighty percent of UK steel shipments destined for the EU, this change creates the UK steel industry's biggest ever crisis, as stated by the lobby group representing the industry.

European Commission Measures and Rules

Through its proposal presented to the European parliament this week, the EU executive also proposed reducing the current allowance for duty-free imports and obliging international producers to declare the origin of steel production to stop Chinese producers sneaking products in through third nations.

EU steel sector faced potential collapse – these measures safeguard it so that it can invest, decarbonise, and become competitive again.

Overhaul of Current Framework

The proposals are intended 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 ineffective. To do nothing could have been "fatal" for the industry, one EU official stated.

Sector Response and Concerns

However, Gareth Stace, head of the trade association British Steel, said EU increasing duties would create "the biggest crisis the UK steel industry has encountered".

There were calls for the government to "recognise the urgent need to put in place domestic protections to protect" the UK steel industry – which is still reeling from a twenty-five percent duty imposed by Trump recently – from the risk of millions of tonnes of world steel diverted away from US and European markets.

This flood of imports "could be fatal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Labor and Government Calls

Union leaders, representative at labor union Community, said the proposed changes represented "an existential threat" to UK steel.

Unions and industry leaders urged Keir Starmer to start negotiations urgently with the European Union on nation-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the United Kingdom was now the European Union's No 1 export market.

Industry Background

Sector representatives in the EU have also been warning for several months that the European steel sector confronts being "wiped out" through the increased duties on exports to the US combined with rising energy prices and low-cost Chinese imports.

Steel on both sides of the Channel is considered a foundational industry, providing basic materials in products ranging from building frameworks, renewable energy equipment and railways to dishwashers and kitchenware.

Implementation and Future Actions

These proposals must be agreed by member states and the EU legislature, with the EU executive head urging national governments and European parliament members to act fast in backing the initiative.

Should approval be granted, the EU will cut its existing tariff-free allowance by forty-seven percent to 18.3m tonnes a year, a volume last seen in 2013. It will apply a fifty percent duty on imports beyond the quota and require countries exporting into the EU to declare the production origin to avoid bypassing of the sanctions.

Exemptions and International Cooperation

Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein will be exempt from tariff quotas or duties due to their close trading relationship in the European Economic Area, the European Union has confirmed.

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

The European Union needs to act now, and decisively, before all lights go out in significant portions of the EU steel industry and its value chains.