News Room - Trade Measure

Posted on 15 Apr 2026

The EU has reached an agreement on new protective measures for steel

The volume of duty-free imports will be reduced by 47% compared to 2024

Negotiators from the European Parliament and the European Council have reached a political agreement on new safeguard measures regarding steel imports to counter the negative effects of global overcapacity. This is stated in a press release from the European Parliament.

The preliminary agreement provides for:

• the introduction of lower steel import quotas—limiting duty-free steel imports to 18.3 million tons per year (47% less than the 2024 volume),
• the application of a 50% tariff (instead of the current 25%) on imports exceeding the quota and on steel products not covered by the quota.

In addition, the draft regulation aims to strengthen the traceability of steel products by clarifying the evidence that importers must provide regarding the origin of the steel. The EC will take origin into account when allocating annual quotas.

The European Parliament insists on the need to review the new regulation as soon as possible and adjust its scope if necessary to ensure adequate protection for the EU steel sector. The EC’s first review of the need for expansion will take place in six months.

The provisional agreement still needs to be formally approved by both the European Council and the European Parliament. The latter could vote on it as early as May. The new safeguard measures are set to take effect on July 1, 2026 (the current measures expire on June 30).

MEP Karin Karlsson (Renew, Sweden), the lead negotiator on this issue, noted that combating the negative trade effects of global overcapacity in the EU steel market is of utmost importance.

She added that thanks to this agreement, European institutions can jointly declare the importance of a rapid, phased phase-out of all imports of Russian steel products—possibly by September 2028, Reuters reports.

Last March, the European Commission published the Steel and Metals Action Plan (SMAP). As noted in the plan, the EU steel industry is vital to the bloc’s economy and is of strategic importance to its defense capabilities. The sector has faced trade challenges, including significant and persistent import pressure in terms of volume and prices resulting from global overcapacity. Since 2008, it has also lost about 100,000 jobs.

As a reminder, the EC proposed new safeguard measures on steel imports in October of last year.

Source:GMK Center