EU Unveils Steel and E-commerce Rules to Balance Trade With China

WHO:

ABC News - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated the new measures aim to protect European businesses and consumers.

ABC News - Bernd Lange is the head of the European Parliament’s trade committee.

ABC News - Axel Eggert is the Director-General of the European Steel Association (Eurofer).

ABC News - Alicia García-Herrero is the chief economist for Asia Pacific and Middle East at the French bank Natixis.

ABC News - Wang Wentao is China's Minister of Commerce.

ABC News - Maroš Šefčovič is the EU’s trade representative.

WHAT:

ABC News - The European Union introduced new steel import regulations and a customs duty on small e-commerce parcels.

ABC News - A new 3 euro ($3.42) customs duty will be applied to small packages valued under 150 euros.

ABC News - The EU's trade deficit with China widened to around 360 billion euros ($410 billion) in 2025.

ABC News - The EU imported 5.9 billion small packages in 2025, compared to 1.4 billion in 2022.

Bloomberg Markets - The EU's stricter steel import quotas are expected to help preserve 200,000 local jobs.

WHERE:

ABC News - The measures were rolled out in Brussels, Belgium.

ABC News - The EU imports steel from trade partners including the U.K., Ukraine, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan, and South Korea.

WHEN:

ABC News - The new customs duty and regulations were announced on a Wednesday.

ABC News - An October deadline has been set for meaningful results in rebalancing trade during a visit to Beijing.

WHY:

ABC News - The measures aim to restore fairness for European businesses and protect consumers from low-value online imports that fail to meet EU safety standards.

ABC News - The EU's steel industry is in crisis, with crude steel output falling to a “historic low” in 2026.

ABC News - Critics argue that China's subsidies for steel production undercut European industries.

HOW:

ABC News - The EU will remove the customs duty exemption called “de minimis” for parcels valued under 150 euros.

ABC News - New rules set tariff-free quotas at 18.3 million metric tons annually and impose a 50% duty on 26 types of steel imports.

ABC News - The EU requires more transparency from importers to trace the production process of steel to prevent circumvention of protections.

(UPDATED July 1, 2026 13:49 UTC)

The European Union has introduced new steel import regulations and a customs duty on small e-commerce parcels, aiming to protect European businesses and consumers. Starting with a new customs duty of 3 euros on packages valued under 150 euros, the EU is responding to a widening trade deficit with China, which reached around 360 billion euros in 2025. These measures, rolled out in Brussels, are designed to restore fairness in trade and are expected to preserve 200,000 local jobs in the steel industry, which is currently facing a crisis with output at a historic low.