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The European Union revealed they will mirror Donald Trump's import duties on steel, effectively doubling taxes on foreign steel to fifty percent in a move described as "a survival risk" to the industry in the UK.

Major Challenge for UK Steel Industry

With eighty percent of UK steel shipments destined for the European Union, this change represents the British steel sector's most severe crisis, according to the lobby group speaking for the industry.

European Commission Proposals and Rules

In its plan presented to the European parliament this week, the European Commission additionally suggested cutting the existing quota for duty-free imports and requiring international producers to disclose where the steel was melted and poured to prevent Chinese producers diverting exports through other countries.

The European steel industry was on the verge of collapse – we are protecting it so that investments can be made, decarbonise, and regain competitiveness.

Overhaul of Current Framework

These measures are intended to replace a import framework that has been in operation for the past seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now considered ineffective. Inaction could have been "fatal" for the industry, one EU official said.

Sector Response and Warnings

However, industry representatives, head of the trade association UK Steel, said Brussels increasing duties would create "the most severe challenge the British steel sector has encountered".

He called on the UK authorities to "acknowledge the urgent need to put in place its own measures to defend" the British steel sector – which is affected by a 25% duty from Trump recently – from the risk of millions of tonnes of world steel redirected from American and EU markets.

This surge in foreign steel "might prove fatal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Labor and Political Calls

Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at steelworkers' union the industry union, stated the proposed changes represented "an existential threat" to British steel production.

Labor and business representatives urged the UK government to start negotiations urgently with the EU on country-specific duty-free quotas, pointing out that the United Kingdom was now the European Union's No 1 trading partner.

Broader Context

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

Steel on both sides of the Channel is considered a essential sector, supplying elemental components in everything from building frameworks, wind turbines and transport infrastructure to dishwashers and cutlery.

Implementation and Future Actions

The new measures must be agreed by member states and the EU legislature, with the European Commission president urging member states and MEPs to act fast in support of the initiative.

If the plan is ratified, the European Union will reduce its current duty-free quota by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a annually, a volume last seen in 2013. It will impose a 50% duty on foreign steel beyond the quota and require nations shipping to the bloc to declare where the steel was melted and poured to avoid bypassing of the sanctions.

Exceptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will not be subject to import limits or duties because of their close trading relationship in the EEA, the European Union has confirmed.

In addition to these measures, the European Union is seeking a "steel partnership" with the United States to ringfence their respective economies from excess production.

EU must take immediate action, and decisively, prior to all lights go out in significant portions of the EU steel industry and its value chains.