South African steel exporters could face tighter access to the European Union market from July 1 following the introduction of lower duty-free import quotas and higher tariffs on shipments exceeding those quotas.
The measures were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 24 as Regulation EU 2026/1384. They replace the EU's steel safeguard measures, which expire on June 30, with a new tariff-rate quota TRQ system that the European Commission says is intended to address the effects of global steel overcapacity.
Under the regulation, steel imports will continue to enter the EU duty-free within allocated tariff-rate quotas. However, imports exceeding those quotas will attract a 50 tariff, up from the previous 25 safeguard duty.
