New EU safeguard measures on steel imports have been in force since 1 July 2026. From 1 October 2026, it will also be mandatory to declare the country of smelting and casting upon import. Companies importing steel into the EU from third countries must therefore comply with these new requirements.

New EU measures since July 2026

The background to the revision of the EU’s safeguard measures regarding steel imports lies, in particular, in global overcapacity, which is putting pressure on the EU steel industry, as well as additional trade-restrictive measures imposed by other third countries.

With Regulation (EU) 2026/1384, the EU has therefore introduced new measures to mitigate the negative trade-related effects of global overcapacity on the Union’s steel market. The Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 24 June 2026 and has been in force since July 2026.

The relevant country-specific quotas are set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457. In addition, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1930 contains bilateral safeguard measures for certain countries with which the EU has a free trade agreement.

Country of smelting and casting: Proof will be mandatory from October

A key change concerns information on the country of smelting and casting. From 1 October 2026, steel importers must provide the relevant details upon import:

Specifically, they must name the country in which the crude steel or pig iron was produced in liquid form in a blast furnace and subsequently cast into its primary solid state. This also includes remelting of scrap.

This new requirement for documentary evidence is intended, in particular, to improve the traceability of steel imports. If the necessary documents cannot be provided, the import may be refused.

What supporting documents are accepted?

The requirements for supporting documents are set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963. In principle, a mill certificate could be submitted for this purpose, stating the country of smelting and casting as well as the melt number of the imported steel.

If the rolling mill certificate does not contain this information, other documents containing these details may be used. These include, for example:

  • Invoices and delivery notes
  • Quality certificates or clauses in purchase orders or contracts
  • Long-term supplier declarations
  • Cost accounting and production records
  • Customs documents from the exporting country
  • Business correspondence
  • Production descriptions

For a transitional period from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, these documents may also serve as standalone evidence, provided they contain details of the country of smelting and casting as well as the smelting number, and no rolling mill certificate can be provided.

Tariff quotas and an additional 50 per cent duty

The new protective measures apply, in principle, to imports from all third countries. This also includes countries with which the EU has concluded a free trade agreement, as well as countries benefiting from unilateral EU tariff preferences. However, the EEA states of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are exempt from these measures.

A total quota volume of 18,345,922 tonnes is available across 28 product categories. Imports within the respective quotas are duty-free.

Steel imports outside these quotas, however, are subject to a 50 per cent tariff. This is levied in addition to the standard customs duties on imports from third countries.

The quotas are set annually for the period from 1 July to 30 June of the following year and managed on a quarterly basis. Allocations are made on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis. Unused quantities are carried over to the next quarter at the end of each quarter. This rule applies initially for the first year of implementation, from 1 June 2026 to 30 June 2027.

Country-specific quotas

The total quota volume is allocated across the individual product categories and countries. Half of the annual quotas is reserved exclusively for trading partners with a free trade agreement with the EU; the other half is open to all trading partners.

A country-specific quota is allocated to those countries whose share of EU imports of a particular product category amounted to at least five per cent during the reference period from 2022 to 2024.

The regulations therefore distinguish between country-specific quotas, FTA quotas and quotas for other countries.

Further steel products could be included

The new measures are not necessarily limited to the current scope of application. The European Commission is therefore already examining whether further categories of goods should be included where appropriate:

An initial review, to be completed by 31 December 2026, concerns, amongst other things, certain pipes, tubes and hollow sections made of cast iron, various types of wire and forged bars.

A further review, to be carried out by 30 June 2027, is intended to cover additional products consisting predominantly of steel, including downstream iron and steel products.

Thereafter, a regular review is scheduled every two years.

Links to the relevant EU regulations:

 

Source: GTAI (in German)