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The European Union have announced they will match Donald Trump's import duties on steel, increasing to double taxes on imports to fifty percent in a action described as "an existential threat" to the sector in the UK.

Unprecedented Crisis for UK Steel Industry

With eighty percent of UK steel shipments destined for the EU, this change creates the UK steel industry's biggest ever challenge, according to the lobby group speaking for the industry.

European Commission Measures and Regulations

Through its proposal presented to the EU legislature this week, the European Commission also proposed cutting the existing quota for duty-free imports and obliging foreign suppliers to declare where the steel was melted and poured to prevent Chinese producers sneaking products in through third nations.

The European steel industry stood at the brink of failure – we are protecting it so that it can invest, reduce emissions, and become competitive again.

Overhaul of Existing System

These measures are designed to replace a quota system that has been in operation for the past seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now considered ineffective. Inaction could have been "catastrophic" for the industry, one EU official said.

Sector Response and Warnings

However, industry representatives, from the industry body UK Steel, said EU doubling its tariffs would create "the biggest crisis the British steel sector has encountered".

There were calls for the UK authorities to "acknowledge the critical necessity to put in place domestic protections to protect" the UK steel industry – which is affected by a twenty-five percent tariff from Trump recently – from the risk of millions of tonnes of global steel diverted away from US and European markets.

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

Labor and Political Pressure

Union leaders, assistant general secretary at labor union Community, stated the proposed changes represented "a survival risk" to British steel production.

Labor and business representatives urged the UK government to begin talks urgently with the European Union on nation-specific duty-free quotas, noting that the UK was now the European Union's primary trading partner.

Industry Background

Industry leaders in the EU have repeatedly cautioned for months that their own industry faces being "wiped out" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US combined with rising energy prices and cheap Chinese competition.

Steel on in both the UK and EU is considered a essential sector, supplying elemental components in products ranging from building frameworks, wind turbines and transport infrastructure to dishwashers and kitchenware.

Adoption and Future Actions

The new measures require approval by EU nations and the EU legislature, with the EU executive head calling on member states and MEPs to move quickly in backing the proposal.

Should approval be granted, the European Union will reduce its existing tariff-free allowance by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a annually, a level previously recorded in 2013. It will apply a 50% tariff on imports exceeding the limit and oblige nations exporting into the bloc to state the production origin to avoid bypassing of the sanctions.

Exemptions and Global Partnerships

These European nations will not be subject to import limits or duties because of their strong economic ties in the EEA, the European Union has confirmed.

Alongside the proposal, the EU is seeking a "steel partnership" with the United States to protect their national industries from excess production.

The European Union needs to act now, and decisively, prior to operations cease in large parts of the European steel sector and its supply networks.