The European Commission has initiated a safeguard investigation into imports of grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES), citing mounting pressure on domestic producers from rising import volumes.
The investigation covers certain grain-oriented flat-rolled products of silicon-electrical steel, as well as steel laminations and cores (SLCs) used in transformers and inductors. GOES falls under CN codes 7225.1100 and 7226.1100, while SLCs are classified under CN code 8504.9013.
GOES is a specialized steel product used in power transformers and is critical for electricity transmission and energy infrastructure across the EU.
According to the Commission, EU producers are facing unprecedented difficulties due to increased imports, particularly from China, driven by global overcapacity.
Industry pressure has already become visible. Thyssenkrupp Steel recently announced further production cuts in its GOES segment due to rising low-priced imports. Its subsidiary, Thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel, plans to temporarily shut its Isbergues plant in France from June to September, following earlier curtailments at both Isbergues and Gelsenkirchen. Output at Isbergues has been running at around 50pct capacity since January. The company is one of only two remaining GOES producers in Europe, alongside ArcelorMittal.
Import data highlights the scale of the increase. EU imports of GOES rose from 91,362 tons in 2021 to 191,056 tons in the period from July 2024 to June 2025, marking a 109pct increase. Imports of SLCs increased by 82pct over the same period, from 33,163 tons to 60,334 tons.
The investigation will assess whether the surge in imports has caused or threatens to cause serious injury to the EU industry. If confirmed, safeguard measures could be introduced, subject to approval by EU member states.
Provisional measures may be imposed within four to five months, while definitive measures would typically follow within nine to eleven months of the investigation’s initiation.
GOES imports are already subject to anti-dumping duties on several origins, including China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. However, the Commission noted that existing measures, based on minimum import prices, have become less effective as market prices have risen above those thresholds.
