{"id":485752,"date":"2026-06-06T06:46:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T06:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/485752\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T06:46:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T06:46:35","slug":"uk-to-challenge-eu-over-devastating-plans-to-almost-halve-tariff-free-steel-import-quotas-steel-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/485752\/","title":{"rendered":"UK to challenge EU over \u2018devastating\u2019 plans to almost halve tariff-free steel import quotas | Steel industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK business secretary, Peter Kyle, is to raise concerns about EU plans to dramatically reduce tariff-free imports of British steel with its trade commissioner, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, in Brussels on Friday.<\/p>\n

The UK steel industry has previously warned of \u201cdevastating\u201d consequences from the new quota system being planned by the EU, which will cut overall tariff-free imports from non-EU countries by 47% on 2024 levels from 1 July.<\/p>\n

Kyle\u2019s meeting comes as industry leaders on the EU side worry about retaliatory measures by the UK affecting their own sales to Britain. The UK was part of the EU\u2019s previous steel safeguards regime but after Brexit must design its own quota and tariff regime, also for 1 July.<\/p>\n

European Steel Association Eurofer, the EU trade industry body, has already written to \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d to protest that the \u201cUK is setting new quotas for the EU at extreme low levels\u201d with the EU only getting 9% of its previous levels of hot coil imports, 4% of tin mill, and 3% of merchant bars.<\/p>\n

In his letter, the Eurofer director general, Axel Eggert, said that the UK\u2019s provisional quotas would slash their exports of organic coated products by 80% with rebar steel down 45% and steel rails down 38%.<\/p>\n

The safeguards are being introduced on both sides of the Channel<\/a> as an attempt to protect their industries from competition from China.<\/p>\n

But the decision by the EU to slash foreign imports by 50% and the UK to cut them by 60% are fuelling fears that both sides will suffer serious collateral damage while China will find workarounds by pivoting away from raw steel exports to finished steel products.<\/p>\n

Several third countries, including the UK and Ukraine, are \u201cexpressing displeasure\u201d, said one EU source.<\/p>\n

Another EU source said it was inevitable the UK\u2019s tariff-free export limits would be lower for all but that more pain would be felt by London.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [the quotas] will bring economic costs for both sides and will bring slightly higher costs for the UK,\u201d said one EU diplomat.<\/p>\n

Sources in the UK steel industry point out that the British government\u2019s 60% reduction in quotas is flexible and can be changed easily if reciprocated by the EU, whereas the EU quota is strictly capped at 50%.<\/p>\n

They fear that the European Commission is approaching the issue looking for a \u201cmathematical solution\u201d to show they are following the rules and warn that it is in the EU\u2019s interests to give preferential treatment to a fellow-European and rules-based ally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the slice of the overall quota of imports is reduced for the UK, it simply gives a big slice of the quota for non-European countries. Is that what the EU wants?\u201d said a steel executive in the UK.<\/p>\n

The problems have emerged amid fading hopes that the EU and the UK could forge a strategic \u201csteel club\u201d alliance in which they would give each other tariff-free trade and work together against China.<\/p>\n

One EU diplomat added: \u201cWe hoped the US would engage more quickly than they have. But the US is not interested in helping the UK or the EU. They have been sitting on the fence on the idea of a steel club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyle is scheduled to meet \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d on Friday morning to address the growing tensions between the UK and the EU.<\/p>\n

Eggert said he hoped the dramatic reductions proposed by the UK were a negotiating tactic before a \u201cmutually beneficially\u201d settlement is agreed.<\/p>\n

He said that \u201ca zero reduction in exports from the UK is not possible, the UK will have a lower quota,\u201d adding that \u201cthe UK should definitely get preferential treatment\u201d over rivals. \u201cWe are so interconnected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK business secretary, Peter Kyle, is to raise concerns about EU plans to dramatically reduce tariff-free imports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-485752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}