According to an AFP report on April 14, representatives of EU governments and the European Parliament reached a preliminary agreement late on April 13, proposing to raise steel tariffs to 50% and reduce duty-free import quotas by 47%. The move aims to protect the EU's steel industry and curb what it calls the impact of "cheap Chinese imports."

Under this preliminary agreement, the EU's duty-free steel import quota will be reduced to 18.3 million tons per year — a volume equivalent to the bloc's total steel imports in 2013. The European Commission has been hyping China's so-called "overcapacity" issue, claiming that since 2013, "overcapacity" has led to imbalances in the steel market.

The new measures will apply to steel products from all countries except Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, and will replace the EU's current steel safeguard measures. The existing safeguard mechanism imposes a 25% tariff on steel imports exceeding the quota and is set to expire at the end of June this year.

The preliminary agreement is provisional and still requires approval from the European Council and the European Parliament before it can take effect.

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič declared: "The structure and global position of Europe's steel industry is fundamental to our strategic autonomy and industrial strength. So we cannot turn a blind eye to a situation where global overcapacity has reached critical levels. Today's result helps provide the much-needed stability for our producers to thrive in Europe."

A report released in March by the European Steel Association (EUROFER) shows that the EU's total steel imports increased by 14% year-on-year in 2025, while finished steel imports rose by 9%. Turkey was the main source of finished steel imports, accounting for a 16.5% share, while imports from mainland China accounted for about 8.7%.

The report states that the EU's steel trade deficit widened significantly in 2025, reaching approximately 2 million tons per month, up from 1.4 million tons per month in 2024.

Meanwhile, the EU's steel production capacity continues to decline, with crude steel output falling to a historic low of 125.8 million tons in 2025. EU apparent steel consumption increased by about 2.4%, but the report notes that this growth is largely based on a comparison with weak demand in previous years, rather than a recovery driven by actual demand.