EU proposes quotas for steel industry - Seeks cooperation with US to avoid tariffs
The European Union should speed up negotiations with the United States on a system of tariff-rate quotas with differentiated tariffs to avoid the existing high 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum. The European Steel Association added that such an agreement would also help to cooperate against China's overcapacity in the sector.
Quota systems allow a certain amount of steel and aluminum to be imported at low or zero tariffs, while any additional quantities are taxed at much higher rates.
"Quotas are the only option we have with the US. They are not a perfect solution, but at least they allow us to export. Now, that has become almost impossible," say sector experts.
This system was put in place during the Biden administration to replace the 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum imposed by the first administration of Donald Trump. The agreement allowed up to 3.3 million tons of steel and 384,000 tons of aluminum from the EU to enter the US duty-free, with tariffs only applied to the additional quantities. However, upon his return to office, President Trump reinstated the 25% tariffs, which were increased to 50% in June and expanded on August 19 to include about 400 processed steel products.
After weeks of clashes over tariffs that hit all EU industrial products, the US and the bloc reached a deal that imposes 15% tariffs on European goods, with the exception of steel and aluminium. However, in a joint statement, the parties expressed their intention to cooperate in "protecting their internal markets from overcapacity, while ensuring sustainable supply chains between them, including through tariff-rate quota-based solutions."
Analysts also say the US and EU should join forces in the fight against China's overcapacity in the steel sector. According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, there was a global overcapacity in steel production of 600 million tonnes last year, and by next year this figure is expected to reach 720 million tonnes.
China is subsidizing its steel industry, which has led to over 500 million tons of overcapacity. When Trump imposed 25% tariffs in March, they were offset by very low-priced Chinese products, which explains why the US later increased the measures to 50%.
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