New EU rules setting tariff quotas and a 50% duty on certain steel imports will start applying on 1 July 2026.
The European Commission said in a release on Tuesday that it has published an implementing regulation laying out how tariff quotas — limits on how much steel can enter tariff-free — will be distributed among the EU’s trading partners.
Under the new Steel Regulation, annual tariff-free quotas are set at 18.3 million tonnes across 26 categories of steel products imported into the EU, with a 50% “out-of-quota” duty applying to imports above those limits.
Half of the EU’s annual import quota will be reserved for countries that have Free Trade Agreements with the EU, while the remaining half will be available to all trading partners, including FTA partners.
About 80% of EU steel imports come from FTA partners.
Quotas, WTO talks and traceability
The Commission said it has held talks with trading partners at the World Trade Organization under Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — a process used to negotiate changes to tariff commitments — and that a “significant number” of partners have provisionally agreed to their allocated quotas.
The regulation also introduces a traceability requirement requiring companies importing steel to provide information on where the “melt & pour” stage — when the steel is melted and poured into its first solid form — took place.
An urgency procedure will be used because quotas need to be distributed from 1 July, meaning EU member states will be asked to vote within 14 days of the implementing regulation’s adoption and the measure can apply for up to six months.
The implementing regulation will then be re-submitted to a committee of member states under the normal procedure before the end of 2026.
Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič stated that the quota distribution rules are intended to provide “predictability through clear and transparent” arrangements and to balance FTA commitments, WTO talks and supply diversity.
