1 October 2026 – On 30 September, the European Commission opened three further trade defence proceedings concerning cold rolled stainless steel. It quickly becomes apparent that the way the applications were handled raises questions. The proceedings also reveal something else: Brussels has once again completely overlooked proportionality, especially when it comes to SMEs.
Stainless Steel Trade Defence: Five EU Proceedings, Two Speeds?
On 30 September, the European Commission opened three further trade defence proceedings concerning cold rolled stainless steel. Together with the two expiry reviews launched on 15 September, five proceedings are now running on the same product. Who is supposed to win in the end already seems clear: Europe’s large mills.
258 Days Versus 93 Days
A major Indian stainless steel producer had already requested interim reviews of the existing anti dumping and anti subsidy measures on 15 January 2026. Yet 258 days passed before the Commission opened the proceedings. For new complaints, the basic Regulation generally provides for a 45 day deadline.
EUROFER applied for an expiry review of the countervailing duties on 29 June. That proceeding was opened after just 93 days, even though the duties do not expire until March 2027. The review was therefore brought forward and aligned with the anti dumping track.
Were there discussions between the Commission and EUROFER? That cannot be proven. But the Commission could dispel the suspicion by disclosing how both applications were handled. Will it? The Indian producer must now wait up to another 15 months.
Fivefold Burden for SMEs
Traders must register separately in every proceeding. Information submitted in the anti dumping case does not automatically apply to the subsidy proceeding. Sampling forms are due within seven days, questionnaires within 30 days.
For a typical SME, that means substantial additional costs for lawyers, translations and data preparation, five times over and all at once. That is not proportionate. Nor is it a level playing field. Has the Commission once again overlooked the SME test and Think Small First?
343,000 Tonnes of Stainless Steel Slabs With No Tariffs at All
Indonesian stainless steel sheet is subject to anti dumping and countervailing duties. Imports fell from 214,000 tonnes in 2021 to 500 tonnes in the first seven months of 2026.
Yet the same producers demanding protection are themselves importing on a large scale and shamelessly exploiting the fact that Indonesian slabs can be imported entirely duty free: according to Eurostat, 343,000 tonnes in 2025, more than ever before.
After rolling, the steel is considered European. And yet the Commission itself has found that Indonesian slabs are subsidised, regardless of who receives them. In 2023, it announced that it would monitor these imports. To this day, it has published no results.
In the ongoing reviews, however, access by Indian and Taiwanese mills to those very same slabs is treated as evidence of distorted costs. Same slabs, different standard.
But that is not all. The large producers themselves also import substantial volumes of further processed material such as coil and sheet into Europe. This includes one market participant known to us by name that played a major role in pushing the circumvention investigation into Indonesian stainless steel via Taiwan, Vietnam and Türkiye.
Brussels Has the Data
On top of this comes the Steel Regulation with a 50 per cent tariff outside the quota. In the first allocation in July 2026, 37 quotas were exhausted immediately.
The winner is whoever can pre finance a €15 million vessel. An SME with only a few shipments faces an all or nothing risk every time a quota is full.
The Commission knows the importer behind every customs declaration and could publish these data, if it wanted to.
What Needs to Happen Now
The Commission must disclose which Union producers are behind the applications and how much they themselves import. In addition, SMEs must finally be exempted from all trade defence measures.
And to EUROFER: anyone demanding protection from stainless steel imports should also explain who rolled the 343,000 tonnes of Indonesian slabs in Europe, especially if access to those slabs is being used as one of the main arguments against other countries.
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