Steel industry convoy heads to Brussels to call for stronger EU protection
On September 7, a convoy of trucks and industry delegations from across Europe are expected to converge on the Berlaymont building, seat of the European Commission in Brussels, for the "European Convoy for Industrial Competitiveness." The message is clear: "Keep Manufacturing in Europe." The initiative is led by EUROMETAL, the federation representing steel distribution and processing across the continent.
This spring, EUROMETAL had launched a call-to-action that has since gathered more than 470 signatures — 55 industry associations and 416 companies spanning the entire steel and metals value chain. Among the signatories are national and European federations such as Assofermet, Eurofer, Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl, Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahlrohre and UNESID, alongside companies exhibiting on Expometals, such as Wälzholz, and others — such as b+s Burghardt + Schmidt, whose online stand will go live shortly — as well as major groups such as Marcegaglia, Arvedi and Riva Group. The demands raised by the September convoy largely echo that spring appeal: immediate measures to protect the sector.
What's at stake
The convoy's position paper spells out what's at stake. Imports across EUROMETAL's selected basket of critical “steel derivatives” — high-steel-content goods such as wire ropes, springs, bearings, components for electric motors, rail and automotive parts — more than doubled between 2010 and 2024, rising from 3.77 to 8.05 million tonnes. For some categories, such as springs, imports are now more than ten times their 2010 level. According to EUROMETAL, many of these goods are not classified as steel products under customs rules and can therefore fall outside both the current CBAM scope and trade-defence measures applying to primary steel.
The federation is calling for these protections to be gradually extended, for Melt & Pour-style origin traceability to cover steel derivatives and other steel-intensive goods, and for a “Made in Europe” framework covering strategic procurement — from infrastructure and defence to the energy transition and mobility. The comparison is drawn explicitly with the United States and Canada, which have already tightened their own measures on derivatives: without an equivalent EU response, EUROMETAL warns, Europe risks becoming the destination for trade flows diverted away from those more protected markets. At stake, according to the document, are 13.6 million jobs in downstream industries, on top of roughly 400,000 people employed directly in Europe's steel production and distribution.
The latest from Brussels
The convoy's call for a "Made in Europe" procurement framework also found an echo at EU level just days earlier. Speaking in Paris on August 27, von der Leyen pointed to the EU's proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, built around European preference, faster permitting for industrial projects and, in her words, "lead markets for steel, cement, aluminium, vehicles, batteries and clean technologies" — backed by more strategic use of public procurement and state aid. Her speech ranged well beyond steel, however, and made no direct reference to the convoy's specific asks, such as extending CBAM to derivatives or a "Melt & Pour"-style traceability system. On August 31, the Commission adopted an implementing act operationalizing "melt and pour" traceability — the very model EUROMETAL points to. The act does not expand the Steel Regulation's product scope, however, meaning the downstream steel derivatives at the heart of the convoy's demands remain outside it. The new requirements will apply from October 1.
The spring appeal remains open for further signatures on EUROMETAL's website.
