The European Commission will look into ways to extend measures to limit steel imports as part of an overall plan to protect the sector as it decarbonises, Executive Vice-President Stephane Sejourne said on Tuesday.
Sejourne, the French commissioner responsible for the European Union's industrial policy, said during a visit of the ArcelorMittal plant in Ghent that a priority at the start of his mandate would be a plan for steel and other metals.
Sejourne, part of the EU executive that entered office on Dec. 1, said the plan would seek to alleviate high energy costs and protect against Chinese overcapacity as EU steelmakers cut carbon emissions to meet the EU's 2050 goal of carbon neutrality.
The EU put in place in 2018 safeguard measures to limit the amount tariff-free steel entering the bloc to prevent a surge of imports after U.S. President Donald Trump's then steel tariffs effectively closed the U.S. market.
Under World Trade Organization rules, safeguards can only be in place for a maximum of eight years, meaning they will run out during Trump's second term in mid-2026. Trump has said the 27-nation EU will have to "pay a big price" for not buying enough American exports.
"The United States promises to put up trade barriers against us. Europe cannot be the only continent where overcapacity is poured out in competition against our industries," Sejourne told reporters in front of an ArcelorMittal blast furnace.
He said the sector needed continued protection in the transition to green steel, meaning steel produced using sustainable energy, even after the safeguards expire.
"We are looking into similar clauses that would have exactly the same impact, that are WTO compatible," Sejourne said.
He said the EU needed to decide how large a steel industry it wanted.
"I tell them that if we only shrink by 30%, then I will be very happy. This will happen. The question is do we keep 80 or 70% or do we go further? This is the call that the Commission must take," he said.
