Steel imports from outside the EU halved due to protective measures

© ANP / Ramon van Flymen
In 2025, the Netherlands imported 546 million kilograms of steel products from outside the EU that are subject to the most recent EU safeguard measures. These measures are intended to protect the European steel market. This represents a halving of steel imports since 2018, when the EU first introduced these measures. In addition, the EU is also more likely to impose anti-dumping measures and countervailing duties on other types of goods. This is according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on trade protection, which are explained in more detail in the publication ‘Nederland Handelsland 2026, which was published on 10 September.

In 2018, the European Union introduced measures to protect the European steel industry from excessive imports of cheaper steel from outside the EU. These measures have since been tightened, and new rules were introduced in 2026.

Since July 2026, 52 percent of all types of steel products imported from outside the EU have been subject to the new measures. For the Netherlands, this represents approximately 16 percent of the total import value and 29 percent of the volume (in kilograms) of steel products imported from countries outside the EU.

Steel imports have fallen since the peak in 2021

Between 2018 and 2021, Dutch imports of steel products subject to the EU trade protection measures rose steadily. Imports of these steel products peaked at 1.2 billion kilograms in 2021.

This peak was partly due to the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus in 2022 – previously two major trading partners for steel imports – also meant that the peak was not reached in the following years. If these countries are excluded from the total, a decline can also be seen over the entire period from 2018 to 2025.  

Almost three-quarters of steel imports come from five countries

In 2025, 73.7 percent of Dutch imports of steel products subject to the EU trade protection measures originated from five countries: Japan, China, India, South Korea and Turkey. Collectively, these countries accounted for 402.1 million kilograms of steel imports.

Japan and China were the two main countries of origin, accounting for over 41.1 percent of these imports. Imports from both countries have risen since 2018, while total imports of steel products subject to these measures have actually fallen.

EU uses trade protection measures more frequently

In addition to the tightened measures for steel imports, the EU has increased its use of trade protection measures significantly to safeguard the stability of the EU steel market. In addition to safeguard measures, the EU can deploy other instruments, such as anti-dumping measures and countervailing duties to protect trade.

The number of EU regulations including anti-dumping measures and countervailing duties has risen sharply since 1994, with a significant increase from 2025 onwards. In 2025, there were 158 unique EU regulations in force including anti-dumping measures or countervailing duties, compared with around 30 in 1994. In order to examine the effects and impact of these trade protection measures on Dutch trade, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) – based on TARIC data from the European Commission – has created a consistent database in which anti-dumping measures and countervailing duties are systematically recorded by month, product and country.

The English version ‘Dutch Trade in Facts and Figures 2026’ will be published at the end of October. This publication focuses on international trade and investment in the Dutch economy.

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