9 April 2026 – As the New York Times reported yesterday, the steel for the White House’s new ballroom is set to come not from the United States but from Europe – from the world’s second-largest steel producer. Green steel or green-washing? Dispute between traditional blast furnace producers and recycling associations over the sliding scale escalates.
Sliding Scale: Green Steel or Green-Washing?
The so-called “sliding scale” is not a technical compromise – it is a political manoeuvre. What ResponsibleSteel and LESS are selling as scientifically necessary methodology turns out, on closer inspection, to be a systematic effort to shield the emissions-intensive blast furnace route from genuine competition by cleaner alternatives.
The principle is as simple as it is insidious: the less scrap you use, the more CO2 you are permitted to emit – and you still qualify as “green steel.” Emissions thresholds are not lowered; they are shifted. The yardstick adapts to the sinner rather than holding the sinner to the yardstick.
Traditional Blast Furnace Producers Back the Methodology
That it is precisely the traditional blast furnace producers who stand behind this methodology is no coincidence. It is the latest episode in a long history: EU steel producers on the BF-BOF route have consistently deferred decarbonisation commitments by citing competitiveness concerns, scrap availability, or technological maturity. The sliding scale continues this tradition – only this time dressed up in the language of climate protection.
Recycling associations such as BIR and Recycling Europe are right: a credible green steel label requires a single, unadulterated benchmark – actual CO2 intensity. Those who shy away from it reveal that they have no intention of decarbonising. They merely want to appear as though they do.
European Steel Coming to the White House?
As the New York Times reported yesterday, the steel for the White House’s new ballroom is set to come not from the United States but from Europe.
The NYT reports that ArcelorMittal, a European steelmaker, is donating tens of millions of dollars’ worth of foreign steel for President Trump’s new ballroom.
A Donation of EU Steel Worth 37 Million US Dollars
The donated steel is said to have a total value of $37 million – a figure the US President mentioned at an event as far back as October 2025. Two days after that event, the US government issued new provisions on Section 232 tariffs which, according to the NYT’s research, benefited in particular the Canadian arm of ArcelorMittal. The US government has ruled out any connection between the two.
European Steel Subject to US Section 232 tariffs
The fact that European steel is subject to 50% Section 232 tariffs in the United States appears to have been no obstacle to the donation. The affair is already drawing public criticism in light of the Buy America policy and the sweeping tariff measures in place.
ArcelorMittal has benefited from US tariffs
The Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium, in force since 2018, have substantially increased the cost of importing steel into the United States and have demonstrably contributed to rising steel prices not only domestically but globally – a development from which ArcelorMittal has been able to derive considerable benefit.
Mr Mittal, the chairman and former chief executive of the world’s second-largest steel producer, has for years been a vocal supporter of President Trump. He has also praised President Trump’s efforts to impose trade restrictions on Chinese steel exports and, in response to the US tariffs, called on the European Union to strengthen its trade defence measures for European steel.
EU: ArcelorMittal group is one of the most politically influential corporations
In Europe, the ArcelorMittal group is among the most politically influential corporations. Since 2015, the steelmaker has had more than 160 documented meetings with the European Commission. For its transition to green steel production, the group managed to secure nearly €3 billion in subsidy commitments in recent years alone – only to cancel them without consequence in 2025, and without facing any political repercussions whatsoever.
The question that unfortunately forces itself upon us in this context is how the $37 million donation is to be understood in relation to the European Union: are there also “donations in kind” from the group to European institutions – or are entirely different methods at work here?
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