The reduction of EU steel import quotas will hit British manufacturers harder than US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs, the European publication Politico reported, citing its sources.
“As a non-EU country, we will be more worried about this than the US tariffs“, a British exporter told the newspaper. According to him, the EU measures “will affect the UK directly and will lead to trade diversification“.
UK metal producers export almost half of their production to the EU. The reduction of quotas could have a “devastating impact“. The EU plan will have a negative impact on the British steel industry and undermine relations between Brussels and London. Industry representatives have stressed that the EU plan will “halve the UK's largest market“ and lead to “the biggest disaster“ that the British steel industry has ever seen. Companies in the industry are currently “in a state of panic“, the expert noted.
On 7 October, the EU will present a plan to reduce quotas for steel imports from non-EU countries by 40-50%. In July, the European Steel Association and 11 EU countries, including France, Spain and Italy, backed the proposal. Imports exceeding the quota would be subject to tariffs of 50%. According to two industry representatives, the European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič supports the idea. It is noted that the proposal may be softened during discussions in the European Council and the European Parliament.