The EU has announced €26bn of countermeasures to US tariffs, raising the stakes in an escalating global trade war that was instigated by the US.
From today, the US is applying a 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminium, raising its tariffs bill to date to $28bn.
The tariffs tit-for-tat will hit the global electrolyser market supporting green hydrogen, among many others in industrial gases. Among other impacts, it will likely lock US electrolyser makers out of European markets, which they had increasingly been targeting given the uncertainties around US federal support for green hydrogen under the new Trump administration, which is currently undertaking a policy review.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers. They are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy.”
She said the countermeasures are “strong but proportionate” and will be administered in two steps, starting 1 April and then fully in place from 13 April.
“In the meantime, we will always remain open to negotiations,” she said. “We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geoeconomic and political uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with such tariffs.”
The UK has also been impacted. It exports around 200,000 tonnes of steel per year to the US, worth over £400m.
UK Steel Director General Gareth Stace said the imposition of US tariffs on UK steel would be a devastating blow to the industry, since the US is its second-largest export market after the EU.
He said, “It is deeply disappointing if President Trump sees the need to target UK steel, given our relatively small production volumes compared to major steel nations.
“The introduction of further US tariffs will inevitably divert global trade flows, with excess steel potentially redirected to the UK market. This reinforces the urgent need for watertight UK trade measures in 2026 to prevent surges in imports following the UK’s steel safeguards expiry.
“Accelerating the UK’s CBAM [Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism] to 2026 would provide an additional layer of protection against unfairly priced steel. The UK government must act decisively to shield our domestic industry from the fallout of rising global protectionism.”
Alongside pricing pressures, steel manufacturers are under intense pressure to decarbonise faster. The industrial sector currently accounts for approximately 29% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
