The European Commission imposes provisional safeguard measures on GOES, steel laminations and cores, whether or not incorporated in transformers

Starting on 25 September 2026, provisional safeguard measures will apply to imports of certain grain-oriented flat-rolled products of silicon-electrical steel (“GOES”) and of steel laminations and cores, whether or not stacked or wound (“SLCs”), whether or not incorporated in transformers. The European Commission imposed the measures on 18 September 2026 through Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2133. Below, we provide a summary on key elements of the provisional safeguard measures.

1. Background and procedure

On 27 March 2026, the Commission initiated a safeguard investigation against imports of grain-oriented electrical steel. As part of its determination, the Commission examined whether the product concerned was being imported in such increased quantities as to cause serious injury to Union producers, whether the imposition of the measures was in the Union interest and whether critical circumstances existed to justify the imposition of provisional measures. The Commission found these conditions to be met.

2. Key elements of the provisional safeguard measures

In essence, the measures cover GOES falling under CN codes 7225 11 00 and 7226 11 00 and SLCs falling under CN code 8504 90 13. For the first time, a safeguard measure also covers products incorporated into downstream products. The measures therefore also apply to SLCs incorporated in transformers falling under CN codes 8504 21 00, 8504 22 10, 8504 22 90, 8504 23 00, 8504 31 21, 8504 31 29, 8504 31 80, 8504 32 00, 8504 33 00 and 8504 34 00.

The measures will apply for 155 calendar days and expire at the end of 26 February 2027. Imports originating in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Kenya and Ukraine are excluded from the scope of the measures, as are imports from most developing countries. Imports of GOES from China and Brazil, as well as imports of SLCs from China, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates are covered by the measures, despite these being developing countries.

2.1. Tariff-rate quotas with price thresholds for standalone GOES and SLCs

The Commission opened country-specific tariff-rate quotas for GOES imported from China, Japan, and South Korea, and for SLCs imported from Türkiye, China and the United Arab Emirates. Imports from all other countries will be subject to residual quotas. The provisional measures operate as minimum import prices (“MIPs”): where the net free-at-Union-frontier price, before duty, is lower than the applicable threshold, the duty equals the difference between the threshold and that price. No duty is collected where the price is equal to or higher than the threshold.  The provisional regulation sets two MIP levels: one for goods imported within the quotas, and higher MIPs for out-of-quota imports.

For GOES, the thresholds range from EUR 2,800 to EUR 3,400 per tonne in-quota, depending on the quality grade. For out-of-quota GOES, the threshold is set at EUR 3,500 per tonne for all quality grades. For laminations, the threshold is EUR 4,000 per tonne in-quota and EUR 4,550 per tonne out-of-quota. For cores, the threshold is EUR 5,000 per tonne in-quota and EUR 5,600 per tonne out-of-quota.

2.2. Specific duty on cores incorporated in transformers

Contrary to standalone GOES and SLCs, cores already incorporated in transformers are not subject to a quota or a MIP. Instead, the Commission imposed a specific duty of EUR 1,140 per tonne. The specific duty amount corresponds to the difference between an established price threshold for cores and the average import price based on Eurostat data during 2023-2025. The duty is calculated on the weight of the core incorporated in the transformer, which economic operators must declare. This means that the safeguard measures are imposed across the entire value chain, which is a novelty in EU trade defence practice.

3. Imports subject to the existing anti-dumping duties

GOES are already subject to the anti-dumping duties imposed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/58 on imports originating in China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. These duties also take the form of MIPs. According to the Commission, these minimum import prices were set more than 10 years ago, and no longer offered any effective protection to the Union industry. For imports subject to both duties (those originating in the countries already subject to anti-dumping duties, i.e., China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Russia), as the anti-dumping duties are lower than the new provisional measure, the former will not be levied for the period of application of the provisional safeguard measures.

4. Next steps

Interested parties may submit comments on the provisional measure by 5 October 2026. Afterwards, the Commission will review comments from interested parties and should, in principle, take its final decision within nine months from the initiation, i.e., 27 December 2026. However, in exceptional circumstances, the Commission may extend this time limit by a further 2 months, i.e., until the end of February 2027, which is when the provisional duties are due to expire.