The European Commission announced on June 27, 2023 that the EU steel safeguard measure will be extended until June 30, 2024. The tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) will be increased (liberalized) by 4% from July 1, 2023.
The decision to extend the safeguard measure came after a review investigation that evaluated whether the measure should be terminated earlier by June 2023. The European Commission concluded that the increased imports are likely to significantly injure the economic recovery and the EU steel industry’s efforts in the process of adjustment to a higher level of imports if the safeguard measure is terminated.
The Commission found that the level of TRQ used has decreased due to lower consumption, but statistics showed that import pressure increased and remained, and the market share is still close to the historically high levels reached prior to the safeguard measure implemented in early 2019.
The extension of the safeguard measure is a temporary measure that is designed to protect the EU steel industry from the harmful effects of increased imports. The Commission will continue to monitor the situation and will review the measure again in June 2024.