Eurofer seeks EU response to US steel tariff

The president of the Brussels-based steelmakers’ association Eurofer has called on the European Union to respond strongly to the U.S. enacting a 25 percent tariff rate on European-made steel shipped to the nation.

The 25 percent tariff rate is poised to take effect March 12, per an executive order issued Feb. 10 by President Donald Trump.

“The executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump imposing a 25 percent blanket tariff on all steel imports is a radical escalation of the trade war launched under his first administration,” Eurofer President Henrik Adam says. “It will further worsen the situation of the European steel industry, exacerbating an already dire market environment.”

Despite the EU having enjoyed an exemption to U.S. Section 232-related tariffs on steel for the past several years, Adams says EU steel imports in the U.S. decreased by over 1 million metric tons per year during the time frame.

“If all product exemptions and tariff rate quotas (TRQs) are now removed, the EU could lose up to 3.7 million metric tons of steel exports to the U.S. [annually]," he says.

According to Eurofer, the U.S. the second-biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16 percent of total EU steel exports in 2024.

“Losing a significant part of these exports cannot be compensated by EU exports to other markets,” Adam says.

He also expresses concerns about ripple effects of the U.S. action, adding, “In 2024, the U.S. imported about 23 million metric tons of steel products from third countries other than the EU. These volumes are now likely to be massively diverted into the European market.

“Already today, global steel overcapacity is being off-loaded massively on the vulnerable EU steel market at very cheap prices, mainly from Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. This is leading to the inability to invest in the green transition and ultimately de-industrialization of Europe.”

According to Eurofer, in 2024, the EU steel industry had to idle some 9 million metric tons of steelmaking capacity, resulting in 18,000 lost jobs.

“The executive order by President Trump will inevitably further exacerbate the situation,” Adam says.

He adds that key measures Eurofer expects from the EU include revisions to the current EU “safeguard regime” to reflect the growth of imports since 2018 and the new U.S. tariffs; and the bolstering of “a comprehensive tariffication system as an absolute necessity,” in light of what Adam calls a global excess steel capacity situation that is worsening while “steel protectionism is increasing worldwide.”

“Without an immediate tightening of the current safeguard quota regime, the deflection provoked by the new U.S. steel tariffs will inevitably push EU steel capacity into additional idling and, ultimately, closure," he says.

This article was updated Feb. 12 to correct the date when the tariffs would go into effect. It was originally misstated as March 15.