EU seeks US commerce concessions by doubling metal tariffs – DW – 10/09/2025 | EUROtoday

The EU Commission introduced Tuesday it could double its duties to 50% for metal imports above a a tariff-free quota — with the quota itself deliberate to be reduce by 47% to 18.3 million tons a yr. The proposal is topic to approval by the EU’s 27 member states and the European Parliament

The resolution comes underneath efforts to deal with world overproduction and a droop in European output that has left a 3rd of the bloc’s metal manufacturing capability idle.

But questions are already being raised if the bloc that advertises itself as a paragon of free commerce has taken a leaf from US President Donald Trump’s playbook, as Brussels matched 50% metal tariffs imposed by Washington earlier this yr.

Or is it merely attempting to save lots of its home metal trade from overcapacity and search a greater take care of the US on European metal exports?

EU’s metal levy a protectionist measure?

The woes of the EU’s metal trade have largely been blamed on China’s dumping of extra provide at cheaper charges on the European market.

But China was fast to hit again and labeled the EU Commission’s metal tariffs a “protectionism step.”

In a WeChat assertion cited by Chinese every day newspaper Global Times, the China Chamber of Commerce within the EU (CCCEU) mentioned: “Although China’s steel exports to the EU account for only a modest share of its total global exports, this move nevertheless signals a worrying rise in trade protectionism within the EU market.”

The assertion famous additional that such a development “runs counter to the EU’s long-standing commitment to open, rules-based, and predictable trade.”

But the EU says larger tariffs solely goal extra volumes and nonetheless supply a metal quota not topic to larger levies.

The European Steel Association (EUROFER) welcomed the brand new coverage and described it as a “lifeline” for the bloc’s metal trade which has shed almost 100,000 jobs inside the previous 15 years.

In a press releaseEUROFER mentioned the Commission’s resolution was consistent with commerce guidelines set by the World Trade Organization ( WTO).

The trade group argues  “unlike the US tariffs that impose 50% duties on all steel imports,” the EU would introduce a “Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) system, allowing a fair volume of imports to enter Europe free of tariffs.”

This quota of 18.3 million tons of tariff-free metal imports, EUROFER mentioned, mirrored 2013 market circumstances “before the first wave of Chinese steel flooding,” and was virtually as excessive as “the combined steel production of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.”

“Only unsustainable imports above quota levels will be subject to a 50% tariff,” the trade group added within the ststement.

Brussels looking for concessions from Trump?

The EU tariffs are coming in mild of the same metal tariff hike by the Trump administration earlier this yr.

EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic mentioned at a press convention in Strasbourg on Tuesday that Brussels determined to maneuver “in our European way,” which meant “keeping European markets open” and “offering quotas for our partners.”

“What was clear, coming from the US, was the question: ‘Look, we already adopted very robust measures — what are you Europeans going to do?'” he instructed reporters.

As some observers see the EU tariffs as a bid to persuade Trump to cut back his 50% duties on European metal imports, EUROFER left little doubt it hopes for US concessions.

“We are hopeful that these new provisions will lay the ground for a renewed dialogue with the Trump administration to lift the…tariffs and relaunch work on an alliance to ring-fence against global overcapacity,” mentioned the group’s assertion.

How to deliver Trump again to the negotiating desk?

Penny Naas, the appearing senior vice chairman for innovation and competitiveness on the German Marshall Fund (GMF), argues the EU-US tariffs deal struck in August additionally included “cooperation on ring-fencing their domestic markets” from Chinese overcapacity that might result in the EU gaining some “preferential access” for its merchandise to the US market.

Speaking with DW, she famous that curbing overcapacity and guaranteeing correct market circumstances for the metal, iron, and aluminum trade had been an “unsuccessful feature of US-EU negotiations for decades.”

“The EU’s moves suggest that the US and EU are becoming more aligned on tackling this issue in a coordinated fashion,” she added.

And Alberto Rizzi, coverage fellow on the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), thinks the EU’s metal tariff can also be an “indirect message” to Washingten that Brussels, too, can impose larger tariffs.

“It is unlikely that the US will drop tariffs on EU’s steel imports but it might encourage Washington to offer a quota arrangement to the EU under which a certain percentage of the EU’s steel exports to the US could enter tariff free,” he instructed DW.

But such a coverage might injury the EU’s relations with different metal producers, Rizzi added.

Collateral injury for UK and India?

In the United Kingdom, in the meantime, fears are mounting that the EU metal tariffs turn into and “existential threat” to the UK metal trade, says Alasdair McDiarmid, the assistant normal secretary of the Community Trade Union, the devoted labor union for British steelworkers.

As about 80% of UK metal exports go to the EU, making the bloc the most important marketplace for British metal, “losing access to this market would have a catastrophic impact on British jobs,” McDiarmid mentioned in a press release.

After UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer annouced this week that he was in talks with Washington and Brussels, Penny Naas thinks there was a risk of the UK being included in efforts to ring-fence towards Chinese exports.

Another main metal producing nation sure to endure from the brand new EU tariffs is India. About 3.3 million tons, or 60% of India’s complete metal exports, had been headed towards the bloc in 2024, based on Sandeep Poundriksecretary for the Indian Ministry of Steel.

The EU is presently negotiating a free commerce settlement with the Asian nation, with an Indian delegation anticipated in Brussels even this week. Taxing Indian metal imports underneath the EU’s sweeping carbon emissions laws for imports is already a serious level of rivalry.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler