8 October 2026 – Thorsten Gerber, CEO of the Gerber Group, is back in Strasbourg. Not as a representative of an association, but as a genuine entrepreneur. In this second interview, he explains why the big players are eating up the steel quotas in five days, why the CBAM is spiralling out of control with 457 new products, and why the Commission is putting importers at a disadvantage.
- "Who Is Protecting Whom? The Steel Producers Are Themselves the Biggest Importers."
- Mr Gerber, what brings you to Strasbourg this time?
- Who gets the quotas?
- EU steel producers say they need this protection.
- Many SMEs still trust the industry associations.
- Parliament wants to extend CBAM to downstream products.
- A consultation on the Steel Regulation has been underway since 28 September. Are you taking part?
- What follows from that?
- What are you calling for specifically?
“Who Is Protecting Whom? The Steel Producers Are Themselves the Biggest Importers.”
Thorsten Gerber, CEO of the Gerber Group, is back at the European Parliament for this plenary week. This time: steel quotas exhausted after just five days, 457 new CBAM products and a consultation that virtually excludes importers.
Mr Gerber, what brings you to Strasbourg this time?
The quotas. The Steel Regulation has been in force since 1 July: 47 per cent less duty free volume and a 50 per cent punitive tariff. For many supplier countries, the fourth quarter quotas were already completely oversubscribed after just five days. Anyone declaring goods after that pays half the value of the goods to the customs authorities.
Who gets the quotas?
Whoever declares the most on the first day of the quarter. First come, first served. No cap per importer and, since July, not even per country of origin. Under agricultural rules, one market participant may take no more than 15 per cent of a quota. For steel: nothing. The big players swallow the quotas before SMEs even reach customs.
EU steel producers say they need this protection.
Then they should explain why they import themselves. European producers and their trading subsidiaries import from third countries and clear out the very quotas from which they claim they need even more protection.
Hiding behind a 50 per cent tariff wall while importing through the back door: double standards with a customs stamp. Who is protecting whom when the same mills import more than 10 million tonnes of slabs duty free every year?
Many SMEs still trust the industry associations.
What strikes me again and again is that SMEs place far too much trust in the idea that lobbying by large business organisations also serves the interests of smaller companies. It does not. In some cases, the opposite is true.
EUROFER fought for the 50 per cent tariff and, in three market reports, names every cost driver except its own tariffs and CBAM. There are 293,000 jobs in the mills versus 24 million in manufacturing and construction. Anyone who believes this association speaks for them is letting the wolf count the sheep.
Parliament wants to extend CBAM to downstream products.
The madness is entering the next round. The Commission proposed 180 additional products. In September, Parliament turned that into 457: screws, wire, springs, household goods.
The Commission itself estimated bureaucracy costs of up to €81,900 per company per year, before those 457 products were added. Nobody asked what it will cost now.
The Commission exempted nine out of ten importers because the bureaucracy outweighed the benefit. Now Parliament, while preaching deregulation, is pushing the burden one step further downstream. Anyone who had just escaped CBAM comes back in through the screw.
A consultation on the Steel Regulation has been underway since 28 September. Are you taking part?
We’re working on it. It runs for ten working days, the shortest of all 21 procedures conducted by the Trade Directorate. The Commission clearly intends to exclude importers entirely from the decision-making process. There is no other explanation for the fact that traders and distributors are not permitted to submit responses to the 18 specific questions in the consultation. Only steel mills and downstream processors are asked whether the protection is sufficient, with response options that allow only one conclusion: it is too weak. Nobody is asking about the 50% tariff. This is not a consultation, but an order form for steel manufacturers.
What follows from that?
That the Commission is breaking its own rules. Its guidelines require at least eight weeks for a consultation, even under time pressure, as the European Ombudsman confirmed in June. We are preparing a complaint.
The Commission can see, down to each EORI number, which importer draws which volumes. It analysed exactly that for CBAM. It could publish the real quota distribution tomorrow. It does not, because then one thing would become visible: the producers supposedly in need of protection are themselves the biggest importers.
What are you calling for specifically?
Three things. First, a reserved share of the quota for SMEs or a cap per importer. Agricultural law already shows how it can be done. Second, put CBAM on standby, as European exporters are now also demanding. The Regulation is out of control and should be abolished. Third, consultations that actually include those who pay the tariff.
The interview was conducted by the editorial team of The Stainless Espresso.
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