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The EU is launching a survey into the aluminum market to protect the bloc’s plagued industries from the expected surge in cheap imports ousted by Donald Trump’s tariffs.
According to documents seen by the Financial Times, the European Commission on Wednesday will confirm a sudden surge in imports and announce a survey aimed at targeting all trading partners. It also closes loopholes in the tariff regime regarding the import of steel.
Last week, Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, and the EU pledged to retaliate with tariffs on US products up to 26 billion euros.
“The situation is also getting worse in the aluminum sector,” reads the document. EU producers have “losed a significant market share in the last decade,” and production has not recovered since the Covid-19 pandemic, the committee said, a situation worsened by high energy prices, a sluggish demand from Russia and other parts of the world, and cheap imports.
“The recently announced US tariffs on aluminum are likely to exacerbate the situation due to the serious threat of trade shifts from multiple destinations,” he added.
Apart from Norway and Iceland, which are part of the bloc’s economic territories and potentially eligible for exemptions, the main sources of aluminum are the United Arab Emirates, Russia and India.
Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian imports have fallen to just 6% of last year’s total. Last month, the EU decided to completely abolish Russian aluminum imports by 2026, and during that time it would expand tariffs that would only apply to the share of those imports.
The US justified its action using security grounds, while the EU uses traditional trade defense laws under WTO regulations. It may be consistent with measures placed on steel since 2018. They set an import quota and there is a 25% tariff on the metals above.
The committee’s documents also state that it will ensure adequate protection for the steel industry from June 2026, when safeguards must expire. Steel production in the block in 2023 was the lowest since records began, except during the pandemic era.
The commission said pressure on the industry was “highly likely to get worse” as other countries are raising tariff barriers to eliminate Chinese metals blocked by the US. The EU could become “the main receiver of global overpower.”
The committee will expand measures to prevent China from using third countries to avoid them. This document introduces the “melted and injected” rule. This prevents metals produced in countries subject to tariffs, but is processed elsewhere to avoid collection.
The Commission will also consider a plan to clash with a country that restricts the export of scrap metal to the EU with the reverse ban. EU scrap steel exports have more than doubled in recent years, accounting for 20% of production, with steel manufacturers denialing the raw materials.
Drafts of metal action plans that could be changed prior to publication were first reported by Table Media.
The Action Plan also promises greater protections under the carbon border tax, which will come into effect next year.
The Carbon Boundary Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) collects the carbon used to create steel, aluminum and several other products, as EU producers have to pay for their emissions.
CBAM said it will expand to several products made from metal.
There are also attempts to help the industry reduce its carbon emissions. Companies complain that they can’t afford to invest in new technologies, such as hydrogen-powered blasts. The steel industry estimates that until 2030 it will have to spend 14 billion euros per year on decarbonisation. “Most of these projects are unlikely to be economically feasible in the current environment,” the document says.
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The committee advocates that member states reduce energy taxes on heavy industry and provide greater subsidies for hydrogen.
It also encourages the purchase of green steel, which is more expensive than traditional supplies, by changing sourcing rules and setting up resilience and sustainability measurements for many industrial products.
The committee declined to comment on the proposal, but said:
“The Future Action Plan announced that it will present additional sector-specific priorities and long-term measures to replace trade defense safeguards that expired in June 2026.”
