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EU officials declared they will adopt the United States' import duties on steel, increasing to double levies on foreign steel to 50% in a action condemned as "a survival risk" to the industry in Britain.

Major Challenge for UK Steel Exports

Given that eighty percent of British exports going to the European Union, this change creates the British steel sector's largest crisis, as stated by the industry association representing the industry.

New EU Proposals and Regulations

Through its proposal presented to the EU legislature on Tuesday, the EU executive also proposed slashing the current allowance for duty-free imports and obliging foreign suppliers to disclose where the steel was melted and poured to stop China diverting exports through third nations.

The European steel industry stood at the brink of failure – these measures safeguard it so that investments can be made, reduce emissions, and regain competitiveness.

Overhaul of Current Framework

The proposals are intended to replace a import framework that has been functioning for the last seven years and which is due to expire in 2026 and is now considered not fit for purpose. To do nothing could have been "disastrous" for the industry, a European official stated.

Industry Response and Warnings

Nevertheless, industry representatives, from the trade association UK Steel, said Brussels doubling its tariffs would pose "the most severe challenge the British steel sector has ever faced".

He called on the government to "recognise the urgent need to implement its own measures to defend" the UK steel industry – which is affected by a twenty-five percent duty from the US recently – from the risk of vast quantities of global steel diverted away from American and EU markets.

This flood of imports "might prove terminal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Labor and Political Calls

Alasdair McDiarmid, representative at labor union the industry union, stated the new measures represented "a survival risk" to British steel production.

Labor and business representatives called on Keir Starmer 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 export market.

Industry Background

Industry leaders in the EU have repeatedly cautioned for months that their own industry confronts being "wiped out" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US combined with high energy costs and low-cost Chinese imports.

Steel on both sides of the Channel is described as a essential sector, supplying elemental components in products ranging from building frameworks, renewable energy equipment and transport infrastructure to dishwashers and kitchenware.

Adoption and Next Steps

The new measures must be agreed by member states and the EU legislature, with the European Commission president calling on national governments and MEPs to act fast in backing the proposal.

If the plan is ratified, the EU will cut its existing tariff-free allowance by forty-seven percent to 18.3m tonnes a annually, a volume previously recorded in 2013. It will apply a fifty percent tariff on imports beyond the quota and require nations exporting into the EU to declare the production origin to prevent circumvention of the sanctions.

Exceptions and International Cooperation

Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein will be exempt from tariff quotas or tariffs due to their strong economic ties in the European Economic Area, the European Union has said.

In addition to these measures, the European Union is seeking a "steel partnership" with the United States to ringfence their national industries from excess production.

EU needs to act now, and decisively, prior to all lights go out in significant portions of the EU steel industry and its value chains.