23 April 2026 – EU steel producers are once again trying to push through price increases. Base metals remain stable at a high level. EU trade chief in Washington for steel talks.
Steel prices in the EU continue to face upward pressure
Steel producers in the EU are once again trying to push through price increases of EUR 50 to 70 per tonne of HRC – citing higher procurement costs as justification. If EU mills succeed in enforcing their price hikes, the increase for European HRC since October 2025 would already amount to more than 35%.
Base metals remain stable at a high level
Base metals on the LME opened on Thursday with stable sideways movement. Stainless steel futures on the SHFE posted slight gains today.
EU trade chief in Washington for steel talks
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is traveling to Washington for the first time since the conclusion of the EU-US trade agreement in July 2025 to once again negotiate the removal of the 50 percent US tariffs on European steel and aluminium. At the same time, the EU is finalising its safeguard successor and intends to introduce tariffs on steel and drastically reduced import quotas from July 2026 onward. The United States would also be directly affected by this. On that basis, whether the Trade Commissioner can achieve a breakthrough this time remains all the more doubtful.
The Commission’s one-sided client politics on steel
At the same time, this shines a light on the European Commission’s repugnant and one-sided client politics, which seeks to impose import restrictions on all of its trading partners, thereby causing substantial competitive disadvantages for its own steel-processing industry, while at the same time campaigning for the removal of tariffs on exports by domestic steel producers. One question the Commission repeatedly avoids is why US tariffs on steel and aluminium are supposedly bad, while its own tariffs are regarded as good. For us, who reject tariffs as a matter of principle, this is a contradiction that cannot be explained.
This raises the legitimate question of what the Trade Commissioner receives from third parties in return for this obvious and repugnant client politics.
WTO members voice sharp criticism of EU plans
As recently became known, many affected WTO members had already voiced clear criticism of the European Union’s plans regarding steel tariffs in November 2025 and announced resistance. We expressly welcome this and call for resistance and counterpressure to be increased massively. We are available to continue mediating between the individual WTO members involved in the dispute.
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