Kallanish: Euranimi urges European Commission to extend safeguards downstream

The European Commission’s new steel import policies are excessive and could devastate tens of thousands of manufacturing companies across Europe, warns the European Association of Non-Integrated Metal Importers & Distributors (Euranimi), writes Natalia Capra for Kallanish.

Under the Commission’s proposal, import quotas for steel would be slashed by 50%, and by 60% for stainless steel. Out-of-quota tariffs would double from 25% to 50%, on top of the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from 1 January. According to Euranimi, CBAM alone could push steel prices up by more than 10%, exacerbating the impact of the new trade restrictions.

The combination of reduced quotas, higher import levies, and the introduction of a CO2 tax will trigger severe price increases and structural shortages across European manufacturing.

“Capacity cannot be scaled up overnight,” Euranimi warns, recalling the post-pandemic recovery period when record prices and production stoppages hit the market. With raw materials becoming more expensive, it fears an influx of cheaper finished goods from outside the EU. Products made from untaxed steel will flood the market, further eroding Europe’s industrial output and accelerating deindustrialisation.

“To prevent Europe from undermining its own industrial base and accelerating the ongoing deindustrialisation, Euranimi calls on the European Parliament and the Council to request that the Commission thoroughly review its proposal, and supplement it simultaneously with a mirror mechanism for end products: 50% tariff quota on the steel content of imported end products with ≥20% steel, once a reasonable import threshold has been exceeded,” the association says in a note sent to Kallanish.

“For example: a washing machine (+/- 60% steel): once the quota is exhausted, the value of the steel it contains becomes subject to a 50% import duty, raising the final retail price by barely 1-2 %. Such a mechanism would mean European manufacturers are not penalised simply because they produce within the Union,” it adds.

Euranimi executive board member Christophe Lagrange warns that focusing protection solely on Europe’s steelworks and their 300,000 jobs would be a “strategic mistake”. He notes that 40 times as many people are employed in downstream industries that rely on steel.

—

Kallanish
English
27 October 2025