The prompt introduction of robust trade measures for steel derivatives are needed to ensure that import volumes align with the sustainability of EU-based steel processing and manufacturing, trade associations Eurometal and Eurofer have said in a joint statement.
This announcement comes in the wake of the recent EU-US trade deal that failed to scrap or reduce steel tariffs, which are set to exert substantial pressure on the sector.
The push by Eurometal and Eurofer for protectionist downstream measures is likely to intensify as anticipated lost exports to the US will be re-directed into the European domestic market.
Both associations have lobbied over the past year for stronger measures to protect downstream steel products, citing the risk of carbon leakage even under the new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) regime set to come into effect on 1 January 2026.
At an industry event at the start of the month, European Steel Association director-general Alex Eggert suggested that European domestic capacity utilisation was close to 65pc, a level at which it is difficult to turn a profit.
"The European Commission promised in its Steel and Metals Action Plan a highly effective steel trade measure to be presented by September 2025, EU steelmakers cannot wait any longer and trust that this new measure will be highly effective… allowing EU steel capacity utilisation at around 85pc," Eurofer said in a separate statement.
This measure could come in the form of a melt-and-pour clause, an option which the European Commission has hinted at in its Steel and Metals Action Plan.
Measures of this type could facilitate a free trade agreement between the US and EU, allowing both to expand trade on a duty and quota free basis, Arvedi chief executive Mario Arvedi Caldonazzo said in June.
