European Steel Association Eurofer has reiterated the European steel market is the most vulnerable globally, amid fears of it being flooded by material diverted from the US as tariffs come into force.

Eurofer says the tariffs “exacerbate an already dire market environment for the European steel industry and pose a genuine threat to its future,” Kallanish notes from its statement.

It is calling for effective EU safeguards to mitigate the impact of the tariffs and ensure the longevity of the industry in the long term.

The WTO published the EU notification of its proposed safeguard amendments on Wednesday, with a consultation process now ongoing until 18 March (see Kallanish passim). On the same day, the blanket 25% US steel tariffs came into effect.

“[US] President Trump’s ‘America First’ policy threatens to be a final nail in the coffin of the European steel industry. If European steel disappears, so too does European automotive, European security and defence, energy infrastructure, transportation and others. What is at stake is European sovereignty,” says Eurofer president Henrik Adam.

He notes the overall market situation for European steel is much worse than in 2018 when Trump first imposed tariffs.

EU steel exports to the US decreased by over 1 million tonnes, while for every three tonnes deflected from the US market because of Section 232, two tonnes arrived in the EU.

“These new measures imposed by Trump are more extensive; therefore, the impact of the US tariffs is likely to be far greater," he adds.

He also highlights that product exemptions and tariff-rate quotas have been removed, with the EU set to lose another 1mt of exports to the US, plus another million with the tariffs also extending to derivative products.

He adds that amid global excess capacity reaching record levels in 2024 and set to increase again in 2025, the EU market – already saturated with cheap steel imports from Asia, North Africa and the Middle East – will be further flooded with redirected steel.

He notes that 18mt of steel exported to the US under preferential regimes and are now at risk of deflection towards the EU market.

“Simply put, while all other countries – today the US – protect their national steel production, the EU has had the most vulnerable market in the world,” Adam observes.

The EU lost 9mt of steel capacity in 2024, Eurofer notes.

“Our producers already face the highest energy prices while having the highest climate ambition. Meanwhile, they are being undercut by cheaper, more carbon intensive foreign imports," Adam concludes.

Source:Kallanish