EU prolongs steel safeguard measure until June 2026

The regulation also adjusts the functioning of the measure, to adapt it to market conditions.  

This decision follows an investigation requested by fourteen EU Member States, which showed that the safeguard measure continues to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury to the EU’s steel industry. In addition, it showed that EU industry is adjusting to a higher level of imports.  

The prolongation and adjustments are justified by a combination of factors that resulted in significant import pressure on the Union market: 

• high levels of global steel overcapacity and the surge of exports from China to third countries, notably in Asia, resulting in increased exports from those third countries to the EU;  

• the increased number of trade defence measures and other trade restrictive measures imposed by other third countries, and; 

• the significant reduction of demand in the EU.  

The extended measure strikes a balance between the interests of the parties concerned as it continues to allow significant volumes of duty-free imports, while protecting industry where necessary.   

Next steps

The technical adjustments will enter into force on 1 July 2024.  

The measure will expire on 30 June 2026, eight years after its first imposition, which is the maximum application period of a safeguard measure allowed under EU and WTO rules. 

The Commission may still review the functioning of the measure before 30 June 2026 if it considers that further adjustments are necessary. 

Background 

The Commission introduced a provisional safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products in July 2018. The measure aimed to prevent economic damage for EU steel producers, given the risk of further import increases linked, inter alia, to the introduction of trade restrictions by the United States on steel products (US Section 232 measure). The Commission confirmed the measure in early 2019, until the end of June 2021.  

Following a prolongation review investigation, the measure was subsequently extended until 30 June 2024. It takes the form of Tariff-Rate-Quotas (‘TRQs’) reflecting traditional trade flows, above which a 25% duty is levied on imports. Since July 2019 the TRQ level has increased by over 25% on account of liberalisation. The Commission has reviewed the functioning of the measure three times (in October 2019, June 2020, and June 2022). In June 2023, it concluded an investigation whereby it determined that there were no grounds for an early termination of the measure, so the measure stayed in force until June 2024.