Stainless Steel World: EU opens consultation on future steel import safeguards

This August, Stainless Steel World shared that the European Association of Non-Integrated Metal Importers & Distributors (EURANIMI) has submitted its official response to the European Commission’s Consultation on the Replacement of the EU Safeguard Measure on Steel Products, due to expire in June 2026. EURANIMI calls on the Commission to design new rules that deliver legal predictability, apply uniformly across all 27 Member States, and close the systemic loopholes that have undermined the current regime.

EURANIMI emphasises that the practical impact of any new measure matters more than its legal form.

With the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) taking financial effect in January 2026, stainless steel imports— particularly those based on carbon-intensive Nickel Pig Iron—will be hit by heavy trade restrictive costs running into several hundred euros per tonne, effectively acting as a trade barrier to such imports.

EURANIMI considers a uniform flat-rate tariff on select stainless steel imports far less harmful than a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system, which has proven unpredictable, distortionary, and discriminatory in practice.

—

Stainless Steel World
English
25 August 2025