A significant set of pre-scheduled measures took effect in the European Union today, establishing new tariff quotas and import conditions for grain-oriented electrical steel from China, Japan, and South Korea. This activation of previously loaded rules coincided with a new TARIC update that continued the EU's strong trade defence posture. Regulators loaded future-dated anti-dumping duties on ferro-silicon from China and Russia, signaling a continuation of existing policy, and published new measures targeting cellulose-based chemicals and certain steel articles.
The themes
Today's regulatory activity unfolded on two parallel tracks. The first was the activation of a large, complex package of nearly 380 measures, overwhelmingly focused on implementing new tariff-rate quotas for specialty steel. This represents the culmination of prior regulatory work, with measures loaded in advance now becoming operational.
The second track was the loading of 255 new records, again dominated by trade defence and quotas, with iron and steel products accounting for the vast majority of changes. This included both administrative adjustments to existing duties and the loading of future measures, underscoring a sustained focus on managing steel imports and enforcing trade rules.
Headline items
Today's update included several notable trade defence actions, most of which were loaded with an effective date of 24 September or later:
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Ferro-Silicon Duties Extended: The EU moved to continue its anti-dumping regime on ferro-silicon (HS heading 7202). While validity changes were made to existing measures on imports from China (at rates up to 31.2%) and Russia (up to 22.7%), new measures under the same regulation (R1794/26) were loaded to take effect on 18 November 2026, locking in these duties for a future period.
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New Measures on Chemicals and Steel Articles: A series of new trade defence measures were published under information notices. These affect various cellulose products (HS heading 3912) from China and South Korea, as well as certain steel articles (HS heading 7312) from Thailand, India, and Türkiye.
Coming into force
Measures effective today, 25 September:
As flagged in yesterday's briefing, a large package of measures for grain-oriented electrical steel (HS heading 7225) took effect today. These establish a new set of tariff-rate quotas and import conditions for goods originating from China, Japan, and South Korea. The structure imposes high specific duties on imports exceeding quota limits, effectively managing import volumes of these specialty products.
Future-dated measures loaded today:
Beyond the ferro-silicon duties scheduled for November, today's update also included a notable tariff liberalisation. New measures loaded today will reduce the customs duty on cane and other molasses (HS heading 1703) from all countries to zero, effective next week on 1 October 2026.
What to watch
The activation of the electrical steel quotas marks a significant operational change for importers of those products. Looking ahead, the zeroing of duties on molasses on 1 October provides a small but concrete liberalisation. However, the dominant trend remains the EU's intensive management of the steel sector through quotas and anti-dumping duties, a focus that shows no signs of abating as the fourth quarter approaches.