by Julia Payne and Philip Blenkinsop

Brussels (Reuters) – The European Union (EU) will strengthen its steel import quotas to reduce incoming flows by an additional 15% from April, said on Wednesday in Reuters Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice president of the European Commission responsible for industrial strategy.

European steel producers, already faced with high energy prices and Asian competition, have warned that the EU could attract cheap steel from the American market, which would have a negative impact on the sector.

“At a time when no one respects the WTO rules (World Trade Organization, Editor’s note), when everyone may invoke national security (…) Europe cannot be the only continent that drops its industry,” Stéphane stays in Reuters.

The executive vice-president of the European Commission fears in particular that Canadian, Indian and Chinese producers are looking to sell growing volumes in Europe due to lower profitability on the American market where 25% customs duties are in force.

The European Commission will thus offer a series of commercial measures on Wednesday to stimulate its metallurgical industry in difficulty, within the framework of a European action plan for steel and metals.

A draft of this plan, consulted by Reuters earlier this week, indicated that the EU studied import restrictions.

Stéphane Séjourné, responsible for defining the industrial strategy of the European block, said that a first measure would consist in reducing import quotas for different qualities of steel from April 1, which would reduce incoming flows by around 15%.

The volumes imported within the framework of the quota reflect the established trade flows and are not subject to customs duties. Any importation of steel excluding quota will be subject to a customs right of 25%.

Since July 2019, quota volumes have increased by more than 25%, the EU compliant with the WTO rules.

In 2024, the EU imported around 60 million tonnes of steel, including 30 million tonnes exempt from customs duties.

The Commission will also offer new measures in the third quarter to replace reinforced guarantees, which, according to the WTO rules, cannot be extended beyond June 30, 2026.

Stéphane Souvanné said that the new mechanism would be much more strict after calls in the sector. The details remain to be determined.

European production

“It is also the difficulty for anticipating us tensions, wars, pandemics. And we have seen it in the past that the cheap and almost unlimited Russian gas has become rare and expensive (…) Avice that the steel tomorrow is the gas of yesterday,” said Stéphane Séjénéné.

He believes that the EU does not want to depend on the imports of steel, a crucial element in the future reconstruction of the European military-industrial complex once the war in Ukraine is over.

In order to strengthen existing commercial defense measures, the rules concerning public procurement should be revised in 2026 in order to promote European steel.

The Commission will also introduce a “melted and sunk” rule, according to the action plan for steel and metals.

This rule should prevent importers from modifying the origin of the metal “by carrying out a minimum transformation”.

Among non -commercial measures, a pilot program with the European Investment Bank (EIB) aimed at guaranteeing long -term electricity contracts will also favor steel and aluminum producers. Details will be announced in the second quarter of 2025.

“This is a strategic question, including for our defense (…), there is no defense industry without steel, there is no automobile without steel and we want to keep our productive apparatus in Europe,” said Stéphane stay

(Report Julia Payne and Philip Blenkinsop; Etienne Breban, edited by Kate Entringer)

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