The European Union will slap higher steel import duties on the Chinese to help protect European steelmakers from unfairly low prices that have plunged the industry into a global crisis in recent years.

Brussels will impose import duties of up to 73pc on heavy plate steel in a boost for Britain’s Dalzell steel plant, which specialises in this steel type and reopened last month after it was shut by Tata Steel in 2015.

The latest tariffs on the Chinese are some of the most severe taxes yet imposed by the EU. However trade group UK Steel said the Government would need to do more to protect the industry as it begins the process of leaving the bloc next year.