European Union countries on Monday adopted stricter rules for steel imports.
With this move, the European Union aims to protect the European market from global overproduction and cheap competition, particularly from China, India, and Turkey. The new rules take effect on July 1.
"Steel is indispensable to Europe's industrial base, its green transition and its security," said Cypriot Industry Minister Michael Damianos.
Under the new rules, the duty-free import quota will be limited to 18.3 million tons per year. That is about 47% less than before.
Quantities exceeding this limit will be subject to a punitive tariff of 50%, twice as much as before.
The EU is the world’s third-largest steel producer, according to EU figures. Around 300,000 people are directly employed in this industrial sector.
Due to import restrictions imposed by other countries and global overcapacity, the EU market has, however, become the main destination for the global steel surplus.
This has led to low capacity utilization and high production costs in the EU. Global steel overcapacity is expected to rise to 721 million tons by 2027, more than five times the EU’s annual consumption.
