If the EU Steel Safeguard measures end in June 2021, the EU steel industry will again be fully exposed to high volumes of cheap deflected steel imports – particularly for as long as the United States Section 232 measures continue.

In short, the US Section 232 measure is a trigger, but the broader problem is persistent global overcapacity and proliferation of steel trade actions worldwide and has worsened because of the Covid-19 crisis.

The EU steel market, with its zero import tariff, is by far the biggest import market in the world (40 million tonnes of imports in 2019 followed by the U.S. with 27 million tonnes).