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The European Union have announced plans to mirror the United States' import duties on steel, effectively doubling taxes on imports to 50% in a action described as "a survival risk" to the sector in Britain.

Major Challenge for British Steel Industry

Given that 80% of British exports going to the EU, this policy shift represents the British steel sector's largest crisis, according to the lobby group representing the sector.

European Commission Proposals and Rules

In its plan presented to the European parliament this week, the EU executive additionally suggested slashing the current allowance for duty-free imports and obliging international producers to state the origin of steel production to prevent China sneaking products in through other countries.

EU steel sector faced potential collapse – these measures safeguard it so that it can invest, reduce emissions, and regain competitiveness.

Overhaul of Existing System

The proposals are designed to supersede a import framework that has been functioning for the last seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now considered ineffective. To do nothing could have been "fatal" for the industry, one EU official stated.

Sector Response and Concerns

However, industry representatives, head of the trade association UK Steel, stated Brussels increasing duties would pose "the most severe challenge the UK steel industry has encountered".

He called on the government to "acknowledge the critical necessity to implement its own measures to defend" the British steel sector – which is still reeling from a twenty-five percent duty imposed by Trump earlier this year – from the threat of vast quantities of world steel diverted away from US and European markets.

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

Labor and Political Pressure

Alasdair McDiarmid, representative at steelworkers' union Community, said the new measures posed "an existential threat" to UK steel.

Unions and industry leaders urged the UK government to start negotiations urgently with the EU on nation-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the UK was now the EU's primary export market.

Broader Context

Industry leaders in the EU have repeatedly cautioned for months that the European steel sector faces being "eliminated" through the increased duties on exports to the US combined with high energy costs and cheap Chinese competition.

The steel industry on in both the UK and EU is considered a essential sector, supplying basic materials in products ranging from skyscraper structures, renewable energy equipment and transport infrastructure to household appliances and cutlery.

Implementation and Next Steps

The new measures require approval by EU nations and the EU legislature, with the EU executive head calling on member states and European parliament members to act fast in backing the initiative.

If the plan is ratified, the European Union will cut its existing tariff-free allowance by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a annually, a level last seen in 2013. It will impose a 50% duty on imports exceeding the limit and require countries exporting into the bloc to state where the steel was melted and poured to prevent circumvention of the measures.

Exceptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will not be subject to tariff quotas or duties because of 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.

EU needs to act now, and decisively, prior to all lights go out in large parts of the EU steel industry and its supply networks.