The European Commission has announced the details of its new safeguard system and unveiled the product quota volumes.

Accordingly, the new system maintains the principle of open trade and strengthens engagement with global partners to tackle overcapacity, by

1. limiting tariff-free import volumes to 18.3 million mt a year (a reduction of 47 percent compared to the 2024 steel quotas),
2. doubling the level of out-of-quota duty to 50 percent, compared to the 25 percent under the safeguard, and
3. strengthening the traceability of steel markets by introducing a “Melt and Pour” requirement to prevent circumvention.

The quota volumes of various long steel products can be seen in the table below.

• Merchant Bars and Light Sections    881,735 metric tons
• Reinforcing bars    844,526 metric tons
• Wire Rods    1,569,532 metric tons