The European Commission is pressing the United States to remove tariffs levied on the steel and aluminium content of manufactured goods, seeking to advance elements of the EU-U.S. tariff framework that have yet to take effect, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on Tuesday.
Speaking after an informal meeting of EU trade ministers in Horsens, Denmark, Šefčovič said Brussels had tabled proposals that mirror U.S. measures against overcapacity and now expects movement on U.S. duties covering products made from the metals.
Under the joint EU-U.S. approach, the partners have discussed replacing current 50% U.S. tariffs with tariff-free or low-tariff quotas for steel, aluminium and related items. The Commission argues its new plan—raising the EU’s out-of-quota steel tariff to 50%, halving tariff-free quotas and tightening origin rules—aligns closely with Washington’s stance on shielding domestic industry from global overcapacity. The proposal requires approval by EU governments and the European Parliament before it can enter into force.
Šefčovič said the next step should be to address U.S. tariffs applied to “derivative” goods, noting that calculating embedded metal content in everyday products had become an administrative burden for traders and customs authorities. “Once we are protecting our markets in a very similar way, it’s time to discuss the steel derivatives,” he told reporters, adding that he had set out the EU position in a letter to U.S. counterparts.
Washington’s derivative-goods regime has widened substantially in recent weeks. In August, the U.S. Commerce Department added 407 product categories to the list of items subject to Section 232 steel and aluminium measures. For those products, the metal content faces a 50% tariff, with the non-metal content subject to the universal tariff rate; for EU goods, Reuters has reported the non-metal portion is charged at 15%. The new categories span industrial and consumer equipment, including wind turbines, mobile cranes, bulldozers, railcars, motorcycles, household appliances and other components.
The Commission’s October proposal would tighten the EU’s existing steel safeguards, which currently apply a 25% duty on imports above product-specific quotas. The planned changes lift the out-of-quota duty to 50% and reduce tariff-free volumes by roughly half from current levels, with quotas administered quarterly and stricter origin-tracing to curb circumvention. The Commission has framed the package as a response to persistent global excess capacity and as a step towards a transatlantic arrangement on sustainable steel and aluminium.
Trading partners have begun to signal likely effects. South Korea, a significant supplier to the EU market, has warned that the proposed cut to EU quotas and higher duties would weigh on its exports and plans further talks in Brussels. Swiss manufacturers have also raised concerns about exposure to higher costs and have sought exemptions. These reactions point to wider supply-chain adjustments if Brussels’ plan proceeds on the timeline outlined by the Commission.
For EU policymakers, securing U.S. relief on derivative-goods tariffs is tied to demonstrating that Europe is policing its own market with comparable toughness. Officials argue that once the EU framework is in place—raising the costs of out-of-quota shipments and tightening rules of origin—the case strengthens for scrapping U.S. duties calculated on embedded steel or aluminium in finished goods. The Commission contends that quota-based management on both sides would be more predictable for firms, reduce administrative complexity and better target the shared problem of overcapacity.
Any change will still depend on U.S. acceptance. The expansion of the Section 232 list in August suggests Washington intends to maintain a wide scope for the policy, at least in the near term. However, both sides continue to describe a broader objective of aligning trade defences while keeping transatlantic supply chains open. The Horsens meeting underscored that message, with the Danish EU presidency highlighting economic security and U.S.-EU trade ties as priorities for the months ahead.
EU proposes halving tariff-free steel import quotas and doubling out-of-quota duty
