The European Commission has proposed raising the import tariff on steel to 50%

US President Trump's tariff policy has triggered a domino effect. European officials have proposed significantly reducing the import quota of duty-free steel and doubling the steel tariff to 50%.

The New York Times reported that the European Commission proposed on Tuesday (October 7) to cut the duty-free steel import quota by nearly half and impose a 50% tariff on excess steel imports, the same as the US steel tariff rate, in order to protect the EU steel industry from competition from China. This move may impose a heavy burden on the UK and other close trading partners of the EU.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement announcing the proposal: "Global overcapacity is harming our industries."

Due to the increase in imports and the impact of US tariffs, the capacity utilization rate of EU steel producers is only 67%. According to a report by Reuters last week, the new measures aim to increase this proportion to 80%.

Eu steel is currently protected by safeguard measures, which set upper limits on the import of 26 types of steel and impose a 25% tariff on the portion exceeding the limits. However, despite the decline in demand, these quotas are still rising steadily every year. According to the regulations of the World Trade Organization (WTO), safeguard measures must expire by the middle of 2026.

The proposal of the European Commission will significantly reduce the volume of duty-free imported steel to 18.3 million tons per year, which is nearly half of the quota for 2024. At the same time, tariffs on imported steel exceeding this quota will double to 50%.

This move is aimed at addressing global overcapacity, as cheap steel imported from places like China is seizing market share in Europe and leading to unemployment among steelworkers in the 27 EU countries.