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The European Union have announced plans to adopt the United States' steel tariffs, increasing to double levies on imports to 50% in a move condemned as "an existential threat" to the sector in Britain.

Major Challenge for UK Steel Industry

With eighty percent of British exports destined for the EU, this change represents the UK steel industry's largest challenge, according to the lobby group speaking for the industry.

European Commission Measures and Regulations

Through its proposal submitted to the European parliament on Tuesday, the EU executive also proposed slashing the current allowance for duty-free imports and obliging international producers to state the origin of steel production to stop China sneaking products in through other countries.

The European steel industry stood at the brink of failure – these measures safeguard it so that investments can be made, decarbonise, and become competitive again.

Replacement of Current Framework

The proposals are intended to replace a quota system that has been functioning for the last seven years and which is set to expire in 2026 and is now seen as not fit for purpose. Inaction could have been "catastrophic" for the industry, one EU official said.

Sector Response and Concerns

However, industry representatives, head of the trade association UK Steel, said Brussels increasing duties would create "the most severe challenge the UK steel industry has encountered".

There were calls for the government to "acknowledge the critical necessity to put in place domestic protections to defend" the UK steel industry – which is affected by a 25% tariff from Trump earlier this year – from the risk of millions of tonnes of world steel diverted away from US and European markets.

This flood of imports "could be fatal for many of our remaining steel companies.

Labor and Government Pressure

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

Labor and business representatives called on the UK government to begin talks urgently with the European Union on country-specific tariff exemptions, pointing out that the United Kingdom was now the European Union's No 1 export market.

Industry Background

Industry leaders in the European Union have also been warning for several months that the European steel sector confronts being "wiped out" through the new 50% tariffs on exports to the US along with high energy costs and cheap Chinese competition.

Steel on both sides of the Channel is considered a foundational industry, providing elemental components in everything from skyscraper structures, renewable energy equipment and transport infrastructure to household appliances and cutlery.

Implementation 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 support of the proposal.

If the plan is ratified, the EU will cut its existing tariff-free allowance by forty-seven percent to 18.3 million tons a annually, a volume previously recorded in 2013. It will apply a 50% tariff on imports exceeding the limit and require countries shipping to the bloc to state where the steel was melted and poured to prevent circumvention of the measures.

Exceptions and International Cooperation

These European nations will be exempt from tariff quotas or tariffs because of their strong economic ties in the European Economic Area, the EU has said.

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

EU must take immediate action, and decisively, before all lights go out in significant portions of the EU steel industry and its supply networks.