EU steel import rules tighten from July 1
On May 19, the European Parliament approved — by a large majority of 606 votes in favor, 16 against, and 39 abstentions — the new safeguard regulation for the steel market. The text is awaiting publication in the Official Journal of the EU; once published, it will enter into force on the following day and apply from July 1, 2026, replacing the measures expiring on June 30.
What changes from July 1
The new rules are significantly stricter than the current ones. The annual quota of steel products that can be imported duty-free drops to 18.3 million tonnes — 47% less than in 2024 — while the duty applied above that threshold rises to 50%, compared to the current 25%. The measures cover the steel product categories listed in Annex I of the regulation, with quotas managed on a quarterly basis. In the first year of application — July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 — unused quarterly volumes will be carried over to the following quarter within the same application year. From July 1, 2027, the Commission will determine by implementing act, for each product category, whether unused volumes may continue to be carried over. The origin criterion also changes: under the "melt and pour" rule, what matters is the country where the material was first produced in liquid form and then cast into its first solid state, not that of any subsequent processing. This specific traceability requirement — under which importers must provide verifiable evidence, such as a mill test certificate, of the country of melt and pour — applies from October 1, 2026.
In the background is global production overcapacity, estimated by the OECD at 721 million tonnes by 2027 — more than five times the EU's entire annual consumption — which has already compressed the capacity utilization rate of European steel plants to 65%, a figure the European Commission itself describes as "unsustainable in the long term" in its Steel and Metals Action Plan. The stated objective of the new measures, according to EUROFER, is to bring capacity utilization back to 80–85%.
Producers are convinced: blast furnaces restart
Market data confirms that the measures are already reshaping the strategies of major European producers. According to MEPS International, leading European steelmakers — including ArcelorMittal, thyssenkrupp, and Salzgitter — are signaling a more favorable outlook for the second half of 2026, also in light of the new EU trade defense measures.
The most concrete response comes from investment in production capacity: Salzgitter has planned the restart of blast furnace C for autumn 2026, coinciding with the entry into force of the new regime. ArcelorMittal has already restarted blast furnace No. 3 at Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland, and is also bringing its Fos-sur-Mer site in France back to full capacity.
On the purchasing side, according to MEPS, many European buyers are already shifting sourcing toward domestic producers: one distributor reported now operating at 90% local supply, having previously sourced 90% from imports.
Karin Karlsbro (Renew Europe, Sweden), lead negotiator for the European Parliament on the new steel safeguard regulation, speaking at the Strasbourg plenary on May 18, 2026. © European Union 2026 – Source: European Parliament. Photo: Laurie Dieffembacq.
The downstream supply chain issue
EUROFER, the European association of steel producers, welcomes the new measures with satisfaction: "At a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty and market distortions, this sends an important signal that the EU is prepared to defend its industrial base," said director general Axel Eggert. Assofermet, the Italian association representing steel distributors, processors, and traders, takes the opposite view: while acknowledging the need to defend European steelmaking, it draws attention to the effects on the downstream supply chain. According to the association, the combination of stricter quotas, higher duties, and new obligations related to traceability and CBAM risks translating into higher procurement costs, reduced material availability, and additional administrative burden for distributors, processors, and end users. Hence its call to Brussels to assess the overall impact of the measures on the entire value chain, to avoid a protection designed to strengthen European industry ending up penalizing a significant part of the sector.
