EU Finalizes Steel Industry Safeguard Revision
To Take Effect on the 26th, Implemented from April
Starting next month, the volume of Korean steel that can be exported to the European Union (EU) duty-free will be reduced by up to 14%. With European protective measures combined with the high tariffs imposed by the United States, domestic steel companies are expected to face inevitable damage.
On the 25th (local time), the EU finalized the revision of the safeguard measures to protect the regional steel industry and published it in the official journal. The revision will take effect on the 26th and will be fully implemented from the 1st of next month. This revision follows requests from EU member states that the existing safeguards did not sufficiently protect their industries and therefore needed strengthening.
The EU safeguard, established in 2018 in response to the steel tariffs imposed by the first Trump administration, allows duty-free imports up to a quota (allocation) designated by country, but imposes a 25% tariff on volumes exceeding the quota.
According to the official journal, Korea’s hot-rolled steel quota, which accounts for the largest export volume, has been reduced the most significantly. Originally, the hot-rolled steel quota for Korea from April 1 to June 30 was 186,358 tons, but following the revision, only 161,144 tons?about 14% less?can be exported duty-free. Quotas for other product groups exported from Korea to the EU have also been slightly reduced. Europe is Korea’s largest steel export market. Last year, the volume of steel exported to Europe totaled 3.81 million tons, exceeding that exported to the United States (2.81 million tons).
The overall enforcement of the safeguard will also be strengthened. In particular, previously, if the allocated quota was not fully used within a quarter, the unused portion could be carried over for additional duty-free exports in the next quarter. However, starting in July, the carryover system will be completely abolished for certain product groups.
When operating global quotas that limit the total duty-free import volume by product, a cap ranging from 13% to a maximum of 30% will be set depending on the product to prevent any specific country from excessively using the remaining duty-free allocation.
According to World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, the EU can only implement the safeguard until June 30 of next year. However, the European Commission views the import restrictions as still necessary and plans to prepare new trade protection measures to replace the safeguard around the third quarter of this year.
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