by maïadela baume  & Peggy Corin
It’s published
The EU steel sector was on high alert on Wednesday following the implementation of 50% US tariffs on steel and aluminum.
“With no exceptionally double tariffs on US blankets to 50%, we expect a massive deflection of 27 million tonnes of steel, previously doomed to the US towards the European market,” the director of the European Steel Association (Eurofel) warned in a statement.
“We’re flooded with cheap foreign steel,” he added. “Without quick action, we are not just in the water.
Keltin Maria Lippel, CEO of the German Steel Union, said the 50% tariff was marked as “a new level of escalation” in the EU-US trade dispute.
“The 50% tariff on steel exports is a major burden on our industry as it raises pressure on the economy, which is already in crisis and affects the steel sector in multiple ways,” Ripel said.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order. The White House shared with X, claiming that increased tariffs on steel and aluminum “providing greater support” to US industry and “eliminating the national security threats posed by imported steel and aluminum. Last March, Trump reestablished tariffs on steel and aluminum. This was assigned under his first mission in 2018 and 2020.
The steel sector is already struggling with China’s overqualification, which is already flooded with the EU market, but since the US imposed tariffs around the world, the bloc has faced overqualifications from multiple countries. EU import penetration is up to 30% in the context of a decline in demand in 2025.
In Brussels, pressure is growing following Trump’s rise in tariffs at a time when the EU is about to negotiate a resolution on a trade dispute with the US. “The 50% tariff clearly does not help negotiate,” one EU diplomat said.
On Wednesday, EU trade commissioner Malossyvchovich confirmed in the X-Post that both sides are “moving in the right direction at a pace” and that they are “in close contact to maintain momentum.”
However, Sifchovich, who was quized by journalists later that day, said he “strongly regrets” Trump’s latest 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum, adding that “it’s not helpful, especially as we’re progressing.”
A group of high-level EU experts, including Thomas Bad, trade adviser to the European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen, have been in Washington since Monday, negotiating technical details that will help the EU and the US defeat the deadlock.
In addition to the 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, the EU faces 25% tariff on cars, 10% collection on all other imports. The US has also launched several investigations into pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and aircraft that could lead to further tariffs. Trump has also threatened to impose a 50% tariff on all EU goods as of July 9 if negotiations fail to meet his expectations.
The US and the EU exchanged proposals two weeks ago, but both sides rejected the other’s offer. The EU provided a large amount of purchases and zero tariffs for all industrial products and strategic products such as US energy, technology and agricultural production, but the US expected the EU to consider some of its regulations.
