Since 1 July 2026, tinplate, tin-free steel and blackplate entering the EU fall under Regulation (EU) 2026/1384, the permanent successor to the steel safeguard. The duty-free space for these tin mill products is 542,840 tonnes a year, 43.7% less than in the last safeguard year. Above the quota the duty is 50%, twice the old rate, and the regulation says it is charged in addition to other duties; for Chinese tinplate, that means on top of the anti-dumping duty. Since 1 October 2026 importers must also prove where the steel was first melted, or the shipment is rejected. Finished cans and ends sit outside the regime for now, but by 30 June 2027 the Commission must assess whether to bring in downstream steel products.
On 1 October 2026, the first day of the October–December quarter, the EU’s duty-free quota for tin mill products from “Other countries” ran out. The quarterly quota was 6,447 tonnes. The Commission’s tariff-quota database records it as exhausted on the day it opened.
In the July–September quarter, the same quota had lasted until 10 August. From those dates, tinplate from any origin that depended on this quota paid an extra 50% at the border. Türkiye’s own quota ran out on 24 September, leaving Turkish tinplate to compete for the shared FTA back-up pool.
None of this shows up on a can invoice as a separate line. It reaches the buyer later, through the substrate cost in the can maker’s price review. So it helps to know what changed, which origins got squeezed, and what to ask before the 2027 price is set.
What changed on 1 July 2026
The steel safeguard that had governed EU steel imports since 2019 expired on 30 June 2026. WTO rules do not allow a safeguard to be extended indefinitely, so the EU replaced it with ordinary legislation. Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 was adopted on 17 June 2026, entered into force on 25 June and applies from 1 July 2026. It has no expiry date. Instead it has review clauses.
The mechanism looks familiar: a duty-free tariff quota for each product category, then a duty once the quota is used up. The parameters are not familiar.
| Steel safeguard (to 30 June 2026) | Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 (from 1 July 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal nature | Temporary safeguard, fixed end date | Permanent regulation with periodic reviews |
| Duty once the quota is used | 25% | 50% ad valorem |
| Duty-free volume, tin mill products | 964,587 t (1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026) | 542,840 t (1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027) |
| Unused quarterly quota for tin mill products | Not carried over to the next quarter | Carried over to the next quarter in the first year (to 30 June 2027) |
| Proof of where the steel was melted | Not required | Required at import from 1 October 2026 |
| Exempt origins | — | Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway |
Across all steel products the total duty-free volume is 18,345,922 tonnes a year. The Commission calculated it by applying the 2013 import share of the EU market, around 13%, to 2024 consumption. When it proposed the measure, it put the cut at roughly 47% compared with the 2024 safeguard quotas. For tin mill products alone, comparing the last safeguard year with the first year of the new regime, the cut is 43.7%.
The 50% rate is written into Article 2(3):
“Where a tariff quota is exhausted, or where imports of the product categories do not benefit from a tariff quota, the imports of the product categories listed in Annex I shall be subject to an out-of-quota duty at the rate of 50 % ad valorem as set out in Annex II.”
Apart from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, that applies to every origin, including countries with an EU free trade agreement.
Tinplate is category 6, and the split by country changed
The regulation covers 26 product categories, split into 30 quota lines. Tinplate is category 6, “Tin Mill products”. Its ten CN codes cover electrolytic tinplate, tin-free (chromium-coated) steel and blackplate, wide and narrow, plain and varnished: 7209 18 99, 7210 11 00, 7210 12 20, 7210 12 80, 7210 50 00, 7210 70 10, 7210 90 40, 7212 10 10, 7212 10 90 and 7212 40 20.
The country split is set by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457, which applies from 1 July to 31 December 2026. All quotas are first-come, first-served and administered by quarter.
| Origin / quota | Duty-free tonnes per year | Per quarter | Last safeguard year | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 153,409 | 38,352 | 445,343 | −65.6% |
| United Kingdom | 62,472 | 15,618 | 162,440 | −61.5% |
| Serbia | 60,844 | 15,211 | 89,393 | −31.9% |
| Türkiye | 57,114 | 14,279 | — (no own quota) | new |
| Korea | 55,522 | 13,880 | 64,663 | −14.1% |
| India | 47,009 | 11,752 | — (no own quota) | new |
| FTA back-up pool (India, Korea, Türkiye, UK) | 45,019 | 11,255 | — | new |
| Other countries | 25,786 | 6,447 | 148,986 | −82.7% |
| FTA partners without own quota | 23,911 | 5,978 | — | new |
| Japan (separate FTA carve-out) | 11,672 | 2,918 | — | new |
| Singapore (separate FTA carve-out) | 82 | 21 | — | new |
| Taiwan | — (now draws on the “Other countries” quota) | — | 53,762 | own quota removed |
| Total | 542,840 | 135,710 | 964,587 | −43.7% |
Figures rounded to the tonne. New-regime volumes from Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457. Safeguard volumes are the four quarters from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 in Annex IV.1 to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159, as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/612.
Four details in the annexes matter more than the headline totals.
- China’s quota is MFN-only, and China is excluded from the “Other countries” quota for tinplate. Once its quarterly 38,352 tonnes are used, Chinese tinplate faces the 50% duty in addition to its anti-dumping duty (see “How the duties stack” below).
- India, Korea, Türkiye and the UK get a second chance. Once their own quota runs out, and only then, they can draw on the FTA back-up pool of 45,019 tonnes a year (11,255 a quarter).
- Taiwan lost its own quota. Under the safeguard it had 53,762 tonnes a year. Now Taiwanese tinplate competes for 6,447 tonnes a quarter with every other origin that has no quota of its own.
- Partners with a free trade agreement but no own quota, such as Viet Nam, Brazil, Indonesia, Egypt, Ukraine and Switzerland, share a separate quota of 5,978 tonnes a quarter, in addition to the “Other countries” quota.
July–September 2026: how the tinplate quotas were used
How tight the regime is depends on where the tinplate comes from. This is how the quotas for 1 July – 30 September 2026, the first quarter of the new regime, stood in the Commission’s tariff-quota database on 8 October 2026.
| Quota (order number) | Jul–Sep volume, t | Used, t | Used | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other countries (09.9608) | 6,447 | 6,447 | 100% | Exhausted 10 August |
| Türkiye (09.9851) | 14,279 | 14,279 | 100% | Exhausted 24 September |
| Japan (09.9725) | 2,918 | 2,879 | 98.7% | |
| FTA partners without own quota (09.9724) | 5,978 | 5,444 | 91.1% | |
| United Kingdom (09.9850) | 15,618 | 13,825 | 88.5% | |
| Serbia (09.9849) | 15,211 | 12,467 | 82.0% | |
| FTA back-up pool (09.9508) | 11,255 | 7,644 | 67.9% | |
| Korea (09.9852) | 13,880 | 8,773 | 63.2% | |
| China (09.9848) | 38,352 | 23,904 | 62.3% | |
| India (09.9853) | 11,752 | 7,162 | 60.9% |
Overall, about 76% of the July–September tinplate volume was used. That average hides the pattern. The “Other countries” quota, which any origin without its own allocation relies on, ran out within six weeks, and Türkiye used its entire quota. China, Korea and India used only about 60% of theirs.
One likely reason China used so little of its quota is that Chinese tinplate is not duty-free even inside the quota. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1042 imposes definitive anti-dumping duties of 13.1% to 62.3%, depending on the producer. The individual rates apply only if the importer presents an invoice with the exporter’s signed declaration. Without it, the 62.3% rate for all other Chinese imports applies.
In the October–December quarter, the “Other countries” quota ran out on its first day. By 8 October the separate quota for FTA partners without an allocation of their own was 17% used, with more requests waiting, and requests for 7,086 tonnes were awaiting allocation against China’s quarterly quota.
Two caveats. The July–September figures are not quite final: drawings on a quarterly quota stop on the Commission’s 20th working day after the quarter ends, so late allocations can still move them slightly. And in this first year, unused July–September volumes carry over to October–December under Article 3(4). Only the origins whose quotas were full get nothing extra.
How the duties stack
Recital 16 of the regulation explains the 50% rate and adds: “That duty would be in addition to other duties applying to the product categories covered by this Regulation.”
The tinplate anti-dumping regulation does contain a clause against double charging. Under Article 4 of Regulation 2025/1042, only the higher of the two duties is collected. But it is written for the above-quota duty of the old safeguard, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/159, which expired on 30 June 2026. The new regulation says its duty comes on top. If you import Chinese tinplate, ask your customs adviser how current declarations are being treated; if you buy cans made from it, ask your can supplier.
The table below shows trade-defence duties only, calculated on a customs value of €1,000 per tonne at the EU border. The €1,000 is a round figure for illustration, not a market price; ordinary customs duty and VAT are left out.
| Origin and timing | Anti-dumping | Out-of-quota | Extra duty per tonne | Per 1,000 cans* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU mill | — | — | €0 | €0 |
| Türkiye, Korea, UK, Serbia, India, within quota | — | — | €0 | €0 |
| Same origins, once their quota is used (India, Korea, Türkiye and the UK first get the FTA back-up pool) | — | 50% | €500 | €25 |
| Taiwan or another non-FTA origin without its own quota, once the 6,447 t “Other countries” quota is used | — | 50% | €500 | €25 |
| China, Baosteel group producers, within quota | 13.1% | — | €131 | €6.55 |
| China, residual rate for all other producers, within quota | 62.3% | — | €623 | €31.15 |
| China, residual rate for all other producers, after quota | 62.3% | 50% | €1,123 | €56.15 |
*Assumes about 50 g of tinplate per can, roughly a three-piece 73 × 110 mm can (the common 425 ml format) with two ends. Ask your supplier for the real metal weight of your formats; the arithmetic is weight × value per kg × duty rate.
These amounts per 1,000 cans look small until you multiply them by annual volume. They are also lumpy. From July to September the “Other countries” quota lasted six weeks; from October to December, one day. The same coil from the same origin can be duty-free or pay 50% depending on when it is declared.
Melt-and-pour: the paperwork that can stop a shipment
Article 4(1) of the regulation sets the rule:
“At the moment of import, importers of product categories listed in Annex I shall provide verifiable appropriate evidence, such as a mill test certificate, to prove the country in which raw steel or iron was initially produced in liquid form within a steel- or iron-making furnace and subsequently cast into its first solid state (‘country of “melt and pour”’).”
That is the country of melt and pour. It can differ from the country where the coil was rolled or tinned.
The evidence rules are set by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963 of 28 August 2026, which applies from 1 October 2026:
- The main document is a mill test certificate that shows both the country of melt and pour and the heat number of the steel.
- If the certificate lacks one of those two items, customs may accept other documents as a complement, such as invoices, delivery notes, quality certificates, long-term supplier declarations, production records, customs documents from the exporting country or commercial correspondence.
- If there is no mill test certificate at all, those documents can stand alone, but only from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. After that, the certificate is required.
- Anything other than a complete certificate triggers documentary checks, and the melt-and-pour country is declared through TARIC document codes.
- No verifiable evidence means no import. Article 2(3) of Regulation 2026/1963: “Failure to declare the country of ‘melt and pour’ with appropriate verifiable evidence as defined under Articles 1 and 2 shall lead to a rejection of the import.”
For a can buyer this matters in two ways.
First, the information now has to exist anyway. For every coil of imported substrate since 1 October, someone has had to document where the steel was first melted. Asking your can supplier for it is no longer an unusual request.
Second, melt-and-pour will start to affect who gets quota. Today the quota origin is still decided by the EU’s non-preferential origin rules, under Article 4 of Regulation 2026/1457. From 1 October 2027, melt-and-pour data becomes one of the factors the Commission weighs when it distributes quotas. Recital 32 sets out the next step and the reason for it:
“By 30 June 2028, the Commission should, based on the information collected under this Regulation, assess whether it is necessary to designate the country of ‘melt and pour’ as the basis for benefiting from tariff quotas provided for in this Regulation, in particular to prevent steel produced in certain third countries contributing to global overcapacity from unduly entering the Union market following further transformation in other third countries.”
Substrate rolled in one country from steel melted in another is exactly the case being watched.
What the regime does not cover — yet
Finished cans and ends are not in the regulation. Empty steel cans (CN 7310) and ends and closures (CN 8309) do not appear in Annex I. Food in cans is not a steel product at all. So a can bought in the EU, or imported empty from outside, carries no quota or 50% duty itself. The exposure sits upstream, in the substrate the can maker buys.
That may change. Article 12(2) sets a date of 30 June 2027:
“By 30 June 2027, the Commission shall assess the necessity of amending the product scope, taking into account in particular whether it should cover additional products that are made of, or contain, a significant amount of steel, including as a matter of priority downstream iron and steel products not covered by Annex I.”
Empty food cans are a downstream steel product. Whether they are added is an open question, but it is now on the Commission’s calendar.
Cans are already inside CBAM, though. Empty steel cans and aluminium cans are both CBAM goods: Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2023/956 lists CN 7310, “Tanks, casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers, for any material (other than compressed or liquefied gas), of iron or steel, of a capacity not exceeding 300 l, whether or not lined or heat-insulated, but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment”, and CN 7612 for the aluminium equivalent. Ends and closures under CN 8309 are not on the list. If you import empty cans from outside the EU, the CBAM obligations of an importer apply to them in the definitive period that began on 1 January 2026, unless your total CBAM imports stay within the 50-tonne annual exemption introduced by Regulation (EU) 2025/2083. How CBAM costs reach a can price is covered in our procurement guide to CBAM.
What this means for your 2027 can price
The regime affects your price in two ways. Only one of them shows up as a duty.
Directly, when your supplier’s substrate is imported from an origin whose quota is used up, or from China. A can maker that buys most of its tinplate from EU mills has little direct exposure. One that relies on non-FTA origins without their own quota, such as Taiwan, pays 50% for much of each quarter.
Indirectly, through the price of EU-made tinplate. The point of the measure is to reduce import pressure on EU steelmakers. With 43.7% less duty-free tinplate allowed in, the cheapest imported alternative has become more expensive or harder to get. That gives EU mills more room on price. The regulation itself anticipates the risk. Among the factors the Commission must weigh when it adjusts quota volumes, Article 8(1)(f) lists:
“potential issues of availability of supply in certain product categories linked to insufficient capacity readily available in the Union in certain product categories compared to demand, and to significant related price increases, negatively impacting the Union’s downstream industries”
That clause is also an opening. The Commission can amend quota volumes within a range of 14.4 to 22.2 million tonnes in total. When it decides on carry-over from July 2027, it must take into account any insufficient availability of supply for downstream steel users due to market developments (Article 3(5)(c)). The regulation also sets up an online contact point for operators (Article 11) and requires stakeholder consultation before the scope reviews. If tinplate availability or price becomes a real problem in your supply chain, record the evidence and route it through your can supplier and its trade association. It is information the regulation tells the Commission to weigh.
What to ask your can supplier
Seven questions, best asked in writing, before the 2027 price is agreed:
- Where does the tinplate in our formats come from? Ask for the mill, the country of rolling and tinning, and the country of melt and pour, broken down by SKU if the substrate is blended.
- What share of that substrate is imported into the EU, and from which origins? That tells you whether you are exposed to the 50% duty, the anti-dumping duty, both, or neither.
- How are trade duties passed through? The answer should name the duty, the quantity it applies to and the event that triggered it, not a general “regulatory surcharge”.
- How do you manage quota timing? Do arrivals land early in the quarter? Do you rely on the “Other countries” quota, which ran out on 1 October, the first day of the October–December quarter?
- Have any shipments been held or rejected since 1 October for missing melt-and-pour evidence? Do your mill test certificates already show the heat number and the melt country?
- What alternative substrate is qualified for our formats? Ask for a second mill, ideally of a different origin, that has already been tested on your products, and for the lead time of any new pack trials.
- If you supply empty cans from outside the EU, who is the CBAM declarant, and how is the CBAM cost shown?
Contract language that fits this regime
Can contracts typically handle substrate through a fixed price for a period or an index link. Neither handles a duty that switches on and off by origin and by quarter. Four additions make the regime visible:
- An itemised trade-measure clause. Anti-dumping duty, out-of-quota duty and CBAM cost are shown separately, each calculated on the substrate quantity actually affected.
- An evidence-based trigger. Out-of-quota duty is passed through only when the relevant tariff-quota order number is exhausted for the declared origin. The supplier backs it with the customs declaration and the Commission’s quota data.
- Origin disclosure with change notice. The supplier states the substrate origin, including melt and pour, for each format, and gives notice before switching origin.
- A quarterly review. Quotas are administered by quarter and the country split for January–June 2027 is not yet published, so a quarterly reset fits the regime better than a twelve-month freeze.
Dates for the calendar
| Date | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 | New regime applies; 50% out-of-quota duty | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 14 |
| 1 October 2026 | Melt-and-pour evidence required at import | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 4; Reg. 2026/1963 |
| End of October 2026 | July–September allocations close; unused volumes carry over to October–December | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 3(3)–(4) |
| 31 December 2026 | Current country split ends; a new implementing act is needed for January–June 2027 | Reg. 2026/1457, Art. 6 |
| 30 June 2027 | Commission assessment of adding downstream steel products such as cans | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 12(2) |
| 1 July 2027 | Carry-over between quarters decided product by product | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 3(5) |
| 30 September 2027 | Last day documents other than a mill test certificate can stand alone | Reg. 2026/1963, Art. 3 |
| 1 October 2027 | Melt-and-pour data enters quota distribution | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 5(1)(j) and Art. 14 |
| 30 June 2028 | Assessment of melt-and-pour as the basis for quota access; first implementation report | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 12(5) and 12(7) |
| 30 June 2029 | First full evaluation of the regulation, then every three years | Reg. 2026/1384, Art. 12(6) |
Frequently asked questions
Does the EU steel regulation apply to empty food cans?
Not at present. Empty steel cans (CN 7310) and ends (CN 8309) are not among the product categories in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2026/1384. The Commission must assess by 30 June 2027 whether to extend the scope to downstream steel products. Empty steel and aluminium cans are, however, covered by CBAM.
What is the out-of-quota duty on tinplate in 2026?
50% ad valorem. It applies once the quota for the relevant origin is exhausted, or immediately where an origin has no quota to draw on. Under the safeguard that expired on 30 June 2026 the rate was 25%.
How much tinplate can enter the EU duty-free?
542,840 tonnes in the year from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, split by origin and by quarter in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457. That is 43.7% less than the 964,587 tonnes available for tin mill products in the last safeguard year.
What document proves melt and pour?
A mill test certificate showing the country of melt and pour and the heat number. Until 30 September 2027, other documents such as invoices, delivery notes or supplier declarations can be accepted on their own if they show both items. After that they only complement a certificate. Without verifiable evidence, the import is rejected.
Is Chinese tinplate charged both anti-dumping and out-of-quota duty?
The regulation states that its 50% duty is in addition to other duties. The anti-dumping regulation on Chinese tinplate, 2025/1042, has a clause preventing double charging, but that clause refers to the expired safeguard. Confirm current practice with your customs adviser before you rely on either reading.
Does the regime change the price of EU-made tinplate?
Not directly. No duty is charged on EU production. But once quotas run out, imported alternatives cost more, and EU mills can price with that in mind. The regulation itself lists price increases harming downstream industries among the factors for adjusting quota volumes.
Sources and primary references
- Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 — tariff quotas, 50% out-of-quota duty, melt-and-pour, review clauses; Annex I (product categories) and Annex II (volumes)
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457 — distribution of the quotas by country, 1 July – 31 December 2026
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963 — evidence for the country of melt and pour, from 1 October 2026
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1042 — definitive anti-dumping duty on tinplate from China
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/612 — last safeguard quota volumes, used for the year-on-year comparison
- Regulation (EU) 2023/956 — CBAM, Annex I goods list
- Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 — CBAM simplification, 50-tonne annual exemption
- European Commission — TARIC tariff quota consultation — quota volumes, balances and exhaustion dates by order number
- European Commission, DG Trade — Factsheet: EU steel measure
About the figures. Quota volumes come from the regulations listed above. Usage and exhaustion dates come from the Commission’s TARIC tariff-quota data as published on 8 October 2026. July–September figures can still change slightly until that quarter’s allocations close. Year-on-year comparisons for tin mill products are our own calculation from the annexes. The duty examples use an illustrative customs value and can weight, not market prices.
A note on the quotations. Passages from Regulation (EU) 2026/1384, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963 and Regulation (EU) 2023/956, the name of product category 6 and the name of the “Other countries” quota are reproduced from the official language version of each act, so the wording in each language edition of this article is the wording published in the Official Journal. The exception is the Russian edition: the European Union does not issue Russian-language versions of its legal acts, so there the quotations are an unofficial translation and the English original governs.
This article is general commercial guidance, not legal or customs advice. Classification, origin and duty treatment depend on the facts of each import; confirm them with a customs adviser before acting.