The European Commission has introduced some adjustments to the functioning of the safeguard measure on imports of angles, shapes and sections of iron or non-alloy steel (Category 17), which includes I, U and H profiles with width of over 80 mm, from Turkey, South Korea and the UK.
Although these countries have individual quotas, these quotas will not be valid until October 1, since the current quota period is already one month in. The commission has changed the quota volume allocated for the period between August 1 and September 30 as the decision to removal 15 percent country-cap will take effect on August 1. The quota volumes between August 1 and September 30 will be determined by allocating on a pro-rata basis the remaining duty-free volumes available under the globalized quota on August 1. The allocation rates are at 40.28 percent for the UK, 33.52 percent for Turkey, 7.81 percent for South Korea and 18.39 percent for other countries.
As of July 29, the remaining quota volumes for the given products for “other countries” and the UK are at 28,667 mt and 161 mt, respectively, while Turkey has already exhausted its volumes.
The quota volumes (mt) to be allocated for the UK, Turkey and South Korea as of October 1 can be seen at the table below.
Country |
October 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025 | January 1, 2026 - March 31, 2026 | April 1, 2026 - June 30, 2026 |
| Turkey | 22,892 | 22,394 | 22,643 |
| South Korea | 5,335 | 5,219 | 5,277 |
| The UK | 27,506 | 26,908 | 27,207 |
| Other countries | 12,555 | 12,282 | 12,418 |
Sources speaking to SteelOrbis noted that the removal of 15 percent country-cap will positively impact Turkish exporters, which exhausted their quota rapidly in the previous periods, as the quota volume will increase.
Furthermore, a maximum import volume for Category 17 is 40 percent per country of the available free-of-duty quota on August 1, 2025 importing through the residual quota. The maximum import volume applies to countries not having a country-specific quota and is applicable in all quarters.
Meanwhile, the commission also reported that it has decided to remove 20 percent country-cap for quota volume under “other countries” for metallic coated sheets (4B) as of August 1 due to some inaccuracies. Previously, Turkey, Vietnam and Japan each were allocated 21,207 mt volume under the other countries quota. This amendment means that these three countries will not be limited in “other countries” quota usage.
