The Swiss steel industry is facing tougher European tariffs after the European Union tightened import rules to protect the industry. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox EU member states and parliament have agrred that in future the duty-free import volume for steel will be limited to 18.3 million tonnes per year, EU legislators communicated on Tuesday. This is around 47% less than before. + Read about the Swiss steel industry in crisis According to the communication from the EU states, further imports will then be subject to a punitive tariff of 50%, twice as much as before. According to the European Commission’s communiqué, only the European Economic Area (EEA) states of Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are exempt from the measure. Switzerland was therefore not exempted. The various EU institutions had already agreed on this issue beforehand. Bern to negotiate quotas The EC now wants to negotiate a solution with its trading partners that is compatible with …