The regulation adopted today reduces steel import quotas by half.
Industry & EmploymentEuropean Union
- Omissions
- The claim states quotas are reduced 'by half' (50%), whereas the actual reduction is 47% compared to 2024 levels — a difference of 3 percentage points.
- The claim does not specify that the 47% reduction is relative to 2024 safeguard quota levels, not to all historical steel imports.
- The regulation also expands product coverage to 30 categories and doubles the out-of-quota tariff from 25% to 50%, details not mentioned that provide fuller context.
- Some sources consulted were published after the session date of 2026-05-18 (e.g. EUROMETAL on 2026-05-19), though the data they describe was available before or at the time of the session.
- Sources
- PrimaryEuropean Commission Press CornerLimiting tariff-free import volumes to 18.3 million tonnes a year (a reduction of 47% compared to 2024 steel quotas).
- SecondaryEUROMETALUnder the new regulation, the volume of duty-free steel imports will be capped at 18.3 million tons per year, representing a 47% reduction compared to 2024 levels. The regulation is expected to enter into force on July 1, 2026.