The European Parliament’s approval of a new steel safeguard, reinforces a global protectionist trend already reshaping Mexico’s steel sector, where US Section 232 tariffs have driven a 60% drop in exports to the United States and pushed domestic capacity utilization to 55%. Mexico has responded with its own permanent tariffs of 10%–35% on steel from non-FTA countries and provisional countervailing duties on Chinese and Vietnamese hot-rolled steel, while pressing for Section 232 elimination in the ongoing USMCA review. The convergence of EU, US, and Mexican trade barriers creates a complex, multi-jurisdictional compliance environment for steel producers, automotive suppliers, and manufacturers operating across North America and Europe.
The European Parliament has voted to overhaul its steel trade safeguards, cutting the volume of tariff-free steel imports by 47% and doubling the…
