Global steel excess capacity continues to grow, driven by increasing subsidies in some major non-OECD steel-producing economies, while efforts to restore fair competition are increasingly undermined by circumvention of trade measures aimed at levelling the playing field, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Steel Outlook 2026 projects global steel excess capacity to reach 745 million tonnes by 2028, exceeding the OECD’s current steel production by 319 million tonnes. Planned capacity additions of up to 139 million tonnes through 2028 represent...

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The Council today adopted a regulation establishing a new framework to protect the EU steel market from the negative trade-related effects of global overcapacity, as outlined in the Steel and Metals Action Plan of 2025. The new rules will replace the current EU steel safeguard measure, which expires on 30 June 2026, ensuring continued protection for the EU steel sector. " Steel is indispensable to Europe's industrial base, its green transition and its security. With today's adoption, the EU is putting...

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Geopolitical rivalry does not end the need for trade cooperation, but the multilateral system must adapt. For decades, the global economy rested on the premise that international trade was beneficial despite geopolitical differences. The rules of the multilateral trading system, established with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 and embedded in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, were crafted for a world where governments rarely used trade to achieve geopolitical goals. That world is now...

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BOLSTERING DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING OF STRATEGIC METALS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation adjusting certain metals tariffs to more effectively address national security threats, spur investment in American agriculture, housing, and manufacturing, and facilitate U.S. production of related products.   The Proclamation adjusts the tariffs on agricultural equipment, like combines and harvesters, as well as certain other equipment, from 25% to 15%. The Proclamation also expands the existing category of industrial equipment subject to a 15% tariff to include mobile...

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On Tuesday, the International Trade Committee gave its green light to two pieces of legislation implementing EU tariff commitments under the August 2025 EU-US Joint Statement. MEPs on the International Trade Committee (INTA) approved the provisional agreement, reached on 2 May 2026 with the EU Council, implementing EU tariff commitments under the August 2025 EU-US Joint Statement. The two legislative acts were adopted by 31 votes in favour, 6 against, and with 3 abstentions (adjustment of customs duties and opening of tariff...

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US policymakers are rebalancing economic efficiency with national security amid rising geopolitical risk.  When it comes to international trade, countries have always weighed economic efficiency against national security. After World War II, they pursued free international trade through low tariffs in the belief that it was both economically efficient and politically stabilizing. World trade tripled as a share of GDP between 1950 and its peak in 2008, with about half of this trade in intermediate goods, reflecting the importance of cross-border production relationships. Although...

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