2026-08-05 • 6 min read • Author: Arina Öström
2026 has changed the economics of steel imports into the EU twice. On 1 January, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) entered its definitive phase. On 1 July, a new EU steel measure replaced the safeguard that had applied since 2018. For Ukrainian steel producers — for whom the EU is the main export market — and for Swedish buyers of steel products, both changes matter.
Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 sets tariff-free import quotas at 18.3 million tonnes per year for 30 categories of steel products. That is about 47% less than the 2024 quotas. Imports above the quota now pay a 50% duty, double the previous 25%. Quotas are managed quarterly, and importers must state where the steel was originally melted and poured.
The measure also bans all steel imports from Russia and Belarus. Countries in the European Economic Area are exempt from the quotas; Sweden, as an EU member, applies them in full.
The European Parliament's rapporteur on the regulation was the Swedish MEP Karin Karlsbro, who stressed continued tariff-free trade with Ukraine. In practice, Ukraine received a country-specific quota of 1.05 million tonnes per year, plus access to a residual quota shared with other countries. According to GMK Center, Ukrainian supplies in the covered categories amounted to 2.6–2.9 million tonnes a year in 2022–2025.
Since the start of the definitive phase, EU importers of iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen are financially responsible for the emissions embedded in their imports.
**Threshold:** importers bringing in no more than 50 tonnes of covered goods per year (iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers) are exempt. According to the Commission, this removes about 90% of importers while still covering about 99% of the emissions.
**Above the threshold:** the importer needs authorised CBAM declarant status, files an annual declaration and surrenders CBAM certificates priced in line with the EU Emissions Trading System.
**Timeline:** certificate sales open on 1 February 2027. The first annual declaration and surrender, for goods imported in 2026, are due by 30 September 2027.
Ukraine is not exempt from CBAM. The share of emissions that has to be paid rises year by year as free allocation for EU producers is phased out between 2026 and 2034.
For Swedish buyers, the final cost of a Ukrainian steel product now depends not only on the mill's price, but on whether the quota is still available at customs clearance — and, above 50 tonnes a year, on the supplier's emissions data. Verified actual emissions data can be cheaper than the default values the system otherwise applies.
For Ukrainian producers, emissions data per installation and documentation of melt-and-pour origin are becoming part of the commercial offer, alongside price and delivery time.
Not every metal product is affected in the same way. Quotas cover specific steel categories, while CBAM also covers some articles of iron and steel. Checking the exact CN code of each product is the first step before any price discussion.
- [European Commission, Access2Markets: New EU safeguards on steel imports from third countries](https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/new-eu-safeguards-steel-imports-third-countries) - [European Parliament: New measures to protect EU steel market from global overcapacity](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260126IPR32626/new-measures-to-protect-eu-steel-market-from-global-overcapacity) - [SEAISI / GMK Center: The total annual quota for Ukraine is 1.050 million tonnes](https://www.seaisi.org/details/28145?type=news-rooms) - [BSI: Preparing for EU CBAM — the 2026/2027 transition explained](https://www.bsigroup.com/en-MY/insights-and-media/insights/blogs/preparing-for-eu-cbam-the-20262027-transition-explained/)