The government said it will mount a full-scale response to the European Union's notice that it will cut duty-free quotas (allocations) on steel products and raise item tariffs from 25% to 50%.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held an emergency countermeasures meeting on the EU's steel TRQ introduction on the 10th, presided over by Trade Negotiations Deputy Minister Park Jong-won, and discussed future response plans.
Earlier, on the 7th (local time), the EU announced plans to introduce a new tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system to replace its existing steel safeguard (emergency import restriction) measures.
The EU decided to cut the total global steel import quota to 18.3 million tons, down 47% from the 30.53 million tons set annually last year. The tariff rate imposed on volumes exceeding the import quota will be doubled from 25% to 50%. In addition, a new crude steel producing country standard will be introduced, requiring proof of the producing country for all imported steel products.
The new TRQ measure is expected to be introduced through a member state vote by the end of June next year, when the EU's existing steel safeguard measure expires, after going through the EU's general legislative implementation procedures.
For now, the ministry expected that the impact on steel exports to the EU will be limited for the time being, as the current safeguard quotas and tariff rates will remain in place until the EU's announced measures are finalized and implemented. However, it warned that if the measures are confirmed, a significant impact on steel exports to the EU will be unavoidable.
According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korea's steel exports to the EU last year (based on MTI 61) totaled $4.48 billion (about 6.3 trillion won), competing for the top two with the United States ($4.35 billion), the No. 1 export market by single country.
Korea exported about 3.8 million tons of steel to the EU last year, of which about 2.63 million tons (from July 2024 to June 2025) were exported entirely duty-free through quotas allocated to Korea, with the remainder using global quotas.
At the meeting, the steel industry called for a swift and strong response at the government level. In particular, it said, "As countries raise export barriers, there is a high possibility that 'push-out exports' targeting countries with relatively less strict trade defense measures will become full-fledged," and emphasized, "Intensive trade actions are urgently needed to block the influx of unfairly traded steel imports."
The government plans to minimize the negative impact on the domestic steel industry by consulting through various formal and informal channels with the EU, as the EU explicitly said it would take into account free trade agreement (FTA) partners when allocating volumes by country. It is also reviewing the option of using the Korea-EU FTA channel.
A "steel industry advancement plan" will also be announced jointly by relevant ministries this month. A Ministry of Industry official said, "We will make an all-out response as major countries strengthen trade barriers while communicating closely with the steel industry," adding, "We will actively support the sustainable development of Korea's steel industry."