# Ukraine steel hit by EU tariffs meant for China

> EU import restrictions aimed at Chinese competition are catching Ukrainian steel exports, threatening a vital industry already damaged by Russian bombardment.
- Title: Ukraine steel hit by EU tariffs meant for China · BBC News
- Summary: EU import restrictions aimed at Chinese competition are catching Ukrainian steel exports, threatening a vital industry already damaged by Russian…
- Keywords: ukraine, steel industry, european union, trade tariffs, metinvest, yuriy ryzhenkov, russia war, exports, news, world, steel, hit
- Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwdd8z6gyy96o
- Published: 2026-10-18T23:28:45.737+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: ukraine, steel industry, european union, trade tariffs, metinvest, yuriy ryzhenkov, russia war, exports, news, world
## Ukraine bundled into China tariffs
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, chief executive of Metinvest, told the BBC that EU steel tariffs aimed at curbing cheap Chinese imports have caught Ukrainian steel unfairly.

> Ukraine has been bundled together into those measures without any consideration for the situation Ukraine is in
## EU cuts steel imports by nearly half
The European Union capped steel imports at eighteen point three million tonnes per year, a forty-seven percent reduction from twenty twenty-four levels, to protect member manufacturers.
## Ukraine faces fifty to sixty percent export drop
The Ukrainian steel industry estimates its exports to the EU could ultimately fall by about fifty to sixty percent under the new restrictions, despite a free-trade agreement.
## Steel is crucial to Ukraine's survival
Before Russia's full-scale invasion in twenty twenty-two, metallurgy and mining accounted for roughly ten percent of Ukraine's national income and a third of its exports. The EU is its top customer.
## Russian bombardment devastates mills
All of Ukraine's steel mills have been bombed since the conflict began in twenty twenty-two. In September, there was no single tonne of steel produced for the first time in about one hundred fifty years.
## Winter threatens industry survival
Ryzhenkov said he expected the coming winter to be one of the hardest in history. Cutting the available EU market by sixty percent leaves the industry with no other logistics to access alternative markets.

> We are in a dire situation when we don't have logistics to access any other market apart from the EU and cutting our available market by sixty percent, that doesn't help for the industry to survive.
## Key takeaway

EU steel tariffs designed to block cheap Chinese imports are also restricting Ukrainian exports, threatening survival of an industry vital to Ukraine's economy and war effort.