(Bloomberg) — The European Union unveiled fresh tariffs on Tuesday meant to shield its ailing steel sector, taking a page from Donald Trump’s protectionist playbook.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, proposed 50% tariffs — twice the current rate — on all steel imports above a quota that will be cut by roughly 45%, confirming Bloomberg’s previous reporting.
“It is a very restrictive clause that does not have precedent in Europe,” EU industry commissioner Stephane Sejourne told Bloomberg News in an interview. He said that, once in place, only around 10% of the steel used in the EU market will be tariff-free.
The move is a response to mounting fears that traditional European industries like steel are fading, choked by a glut of subsidized Chinese competition, high energy prices and dwindling local demand.
The measures would align EU tariffs with a 50% US levy on most foreign steel and aluminum. The EU is trying to convince the US to lower its rate for EU steel and jointly target China instead.
Thus far, those talks have failed to make progress since the two sides struck a trade deal in July that limited US tariffs to 15% on most EU exports, including cars.
“We hope we can have talks as quickly as possible [with the US] that will get a result,” Sejourne said. “But we share the same industrial agenda as the US — we want more local production, more economic growth and protection for our industry.”
The EU currently places a 25% tariff on most steel imports once quotas are exhausted. But that mechanism is temporary and expires next year, prompting the commission to develop more permanent protections.
The new measures would cut the total quota for all steel categories to 18.35 million tons a year, about 45% lower than the current quota level. The plan sets quotas for specific product types based on historical averages.
EU member states and the European Parliament must still approve the proposal.
The EU executive argued that its plan is compatible with World Trade Organization rules. The commission will also discuss country-specific allocations with those affected, according to a press release.
The tariffs will hit the struggling British steel industry particularly hard, since the EU buys about two-thirds of the country’s iron and steel exports, according to Office for National Statistics data. The Labour government was forced to seize control of the UK’s last maker of virgin steel earlier this year after the plant’s Chinese owner moved to halt production.
The UK government last month shelved efforts to get the US to roll back a 25% levy on British-made steel, concluding it was better than the 50% tariff that the Trump administration had applied to other countries’ exports.
–With assistance from Brendan Murray.
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