The United States' 25-percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, effective since March 12, has severely impacted EU steel producers, while American consumers are being forced to foot the bill for the protectionist policy.
As a cornerstone of Europe's traditional industries and economic foundation, the steel sector reported staggering losses. Data from the European Steel Association (EUROFER) revealed that the U.S. is the second largest export market for EU steel producers, accounting for 16 percent of total steel exports in 2024. However, steel exports to America have already plummeted since the tariff implementation.
"We have lost one million tons. We are talking of a value of around about two billion euros (about 2.26 billion U.S. dollars) which we have lost, and of course that leads to capacity reduction and job losses in Europe," explained Axel Eggert, Director General of EUROFER said in an exclusive interview with China Central Television.
Eggert criticized U.S. measures, emphasizing that they go beyond mere trade disputes to present strategic challenges to Europe's industrial framework.
European industry leaders are pressing the EU for a decisive response, asserting that the tariffs not only undermine the U.S.' goal of revitalizing steel production but are poised to trigger unintended negative consequences.
"We are expecting measures by the European Union to support our industry. That needs to be a firm reaction. So this would have a huge impact on U.S. steel users as well because they depend on steel imports from the European Union. There are a number of grades and products the U.S. steel industry is not producing. The costs for the U.S. steel users will increase by 25 percent if they cannot resource from the U.S. domestic market. And that is worrying for U.S. steel consumers," Eggert said.
U.S. steel tariffs spark EU trade fallout, cost billions in losses
U.S. steel tariffs spark EU trade fallout, cost billions in losses
U.S. steel tariffs spark EU trade fallout, cost billions in losses
