25 February 2026 – As CEO of the Gerber Group, Thorsten Gerber is not among those entrepreneurs who suffer in silence. He travels to Brussels, and says what many think but do not dare to express. In his assessment, the combination of the CO2 border tax CBAM and new tariffs fundamentally threatens the competitiveness of Europe’s SME sector.
SMEs Fight Back in Brussels
As CEO of the Gerber Group, Thorsten Gerber does not remain quiet. He goes to Brussels-and speaks plainly.
The managing director of the Gerber Group is once again in the EU capital. Not for the first time, and by his own account not voluntarily: “Because there is no other choice,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
The reason is serious. On Monday, negotiations began between Parliament, the Commission, and the Member States on the final design of new European steel tariffs and quotas. According to Gerber, the combination of CBAM and tariffs puts the competitiveness of Europe’s SME sector at fundamental risk.
CBAM: Seven Weeks Old, Already Dysfunctional
CBAM has been in force since 1 January 2026. Yet seven weeks after its launch, binding CO2 cost calculations still cannot be made for certain countries of origin, such as Taiwan or North Macedonia. Thousands of companies already face financial obligations-without a reliable data basis.
Particularly alarming: default values for embedded emissions in certain steel products were increased by more than 330 percent between the transitional period and the turn of the year 2025/2026. Where theoretical CO2 costs previously amounted to €78, they can now reach up to €665.
The potential economic impact in the steel and iron sector alone exceeds €23 billion annually.
Gerber has documented these shortcomings in written correspondence with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD). The response to urgent inquiries: “in due time.”
For an entrepreneur required to make daily decisions based on reliable data, he considers that answer unacceptable.
Steel Tariffs Without Impact Assessment
At the same time, Parliament, the Commission, and the Member States are debating new steel tariffs and quotas-without a comprehensive impact assessment and without the legally required SME test.
Small and medium-sized enterprises account for 99.8 percent of all EU companies. Yet the Commission’s proposal on steel tariffs contains no indication that their interests have been systematically evaluated.
“Tariffs are not an instrument of industrial policy. They are instruments for raising prices,” Gerber writes-citing independent research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and recent findings by the US Tax Foundation.
Clear Demands Instead of Polite Appeals
Gerber’s message to Members of Parliament is unequivocal:
- A full SME test
- An independent external impact assessment
- Transparent and reliable data
- A moratorium on new tariffs until CBAM functions properly – or is abolished entirely
The current steel safeguard measures expire in 2026, a date known for eight years. According to Gerber, time pressure is not an argument but a political method to minimize uncomfortable questions and conceal weaknesses in the Commission’s plans.
“The time for polite appeals is over.”
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