Steel industry

Published on
14/07/2026 – 13:50 GMT+2

Deputy Director-General for Trade at the European Commission Denis Redonnet told MEPs on Tuesday that the EU will step up measures against Chinese imports before the October deadline it set to protect the bloc’s market from Chinese overcapacity.

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The warning comes as Brussels started negotiations with Beijing last month to reduce its record-high €1 billion-a-day trade deficit with China, setting an October deadline for the two sides to make significant progress.

However, tensions remain high between the two trading partners, as Beijing has repeatedly threatened retaliation if the EU adopts measures closing its market to Chinese exports.

“Dialogue alone will not suffice,” Redonnet told EU lawmakers, adding that the EU needs to decide how “to protect and preserve the European industrial base.”

“We need to look at what the Chinese do. It is more than likely that we’ll have unilateral protection measures adopted atthe European Union level. So we’ll be taking various measures in parallel.”

The EU is fighting low-cost Chinese imports flooding its market and threatening its manufacturing industry in key sectors such as steel, chemicals, machine tools and electronics.

“What can we do ahead of that October deadline? We’ll look at a number of sectors, we’ll try to start rebalancing and rein in the export levels,” Redonnet said.

Quotas and tariffs to protect EU industries

To defend its steel industry, the EU doubled tariffs on certain steel imports on 1 July and reduced quotas for the sector. Similar safeguard measures could be used in other industries in the coming weeks, the senior EU official said.

He added, however, that safeguards require the backing of a majority of member states and that not all EU countries share the same interests. Some have factories directly threatened by Chinese competition, while others have industries that rely on cheap Chinese products.

“If we had to defend European manufacturing in two to three member states, we would need the backing of a majority of all member states. And those other member states may be focused on users’ interests rather than producers’ interests,” he said.

In parallel, to rebalance the situation among EU member states, the Commission is working on a solidarity mechanism to compensate those most affected by a surge in Chinese imports.

The EU executive also plans to defend the EU market product by product as China heavily subsidises its exports to the EU prompting the Commission to resort to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties.

Last Thursday, it launched an anti-dumping probe into Chinese Peking duck producers.

Reviewing and adjusting trade defence tools is part of the mandate EU leaders gave the Commission in mid-June, asking the EU executive to engage with China while keeping all options on the table to defend the EU market.

Published on
30/06/2026 – 12:27 GMT+2

The EU has allocated import quotas for steel to its trading partners on Tuesday in an attempt to fight growing overcapacity from foreign producers.

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The measure comes amid rising tensions between the EU and china China, where most of the global steel surplus originates.

Seeking to shield its market from global overcapacity, EU legislators agreed last April to increase existing tariff-free steel quotas to 18.3 million tonnes per year while doubling tariffs beyond those quotas to 50 percent

The EU’s closest allies, such as the UK, Switzerland and Ukraine, are concerned that their own exports to the EU could be drastically affected by the new measures, and have heavily lobbied the European Commission in recent weeks for preferential access to the EU market.

“We are providing market participants with predictability through clear and transparent quota distribution rules, while applying a fair and objective methodology,” EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said in a statement.

Protectionist move

The protectionist move comes as global steel overcapacity is expected to grow to 721 million tonnes by 2027, according to the OECD, a volume that could threaten jobs across the entire EU steel sector.

The EU came under even greater pressure last year when the US imposed 50 percent tariffs on steel imports, rerouting the global surplus to the European market.

“They built a wall around their market, steel was hitting that wall and was coming back to our market in greater numbers,” a senior EU official said. “That is why we introduced a safeguard measure which followed an investigation.”

The EU is also fighting unfair trade practices across the board with 80 other measures already in place, among them anti-dumping duties, most of which target cheap steel imports from China.

Pressed by its closest allies to ease the measures to their benefit, the Commission announced on Tuesday that half of the 18.3 million tonnes allowed to enter its market each year will be allocated to partners bound by free trade agreements with the bloc, including India, Switzerland and the UK.

Many of the countries that have clinched a trade deal with the EU will be allocated country-specific quotas proportionate to the volumes traded with the EU between 2022 and 2024.

A special status has also been granted to Ukraine to support the country while it remains at war and ensure a certain level of exports to the EU.