The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has made its Final Recommendation on extending the UK’s steel safeguard measure to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. The Secretary of State will first review the TRA recommendation before publishing their decision.
The TRA has recommended that the measure, which protects the country’s steel industry from surges in imports, be extended for a further two years. Under WTO rules, the Department for Business and Trade allows international parties to comment on the TRA’s Final Recommendation during a period of consultation.
The current measure, which covers 15 categories of steel would expire on 30 June 2024, if not extended. If the measure is extended this year, it must end by 30 June 2026. Under WTO rules another safeguard measure for these product categories of steel could then not be put in place for another eight years.
To prepare for the potential expiry of the safeguard measure in June 2026, businesses could apply to TRA for new trade remedy measures on specific categories of steel products if they felt that the UK industry was being injured by, or was at threat of, dumped or subsidised imports.
Extension review
The TRA began this extension review of the safeguard measure in September 2023. In conducting its review, the TRA found that imports would be likely to increase if the safeguard measure were to expire. The review also found that it is likely that serious injury would recur to UK producers across all 15 categories of steel if the safeguard measure were to be removed.
Parties affected by the extension review’s initial findings (such as importers or exporters of steel products or UK producers of similar products) had until 7 March 2024 to respond to the findings set out in the TRA’s Statement of Intended Final Determination (SIFD).
This extension review was conducted separately to two other reviews into Hot Rolled Flat and Coil steel (Category 1 products). The TRA initiated a suspension review and a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) review in response to applications from Tata Steel UK (TSUK) and Kromat Trading Ltd on 9 February this year relating to a change in market conditions that was affecting supply of Category 1 steel into the UK. The findings of these separate reviews will be published in due course.
Notes to editors:
- The TRA is the UK body that investigates whether trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair trading practices and unforeseen surges of imports.
- In 2021, the TRA carried out its first review of the safeguard measure on steel categories that was transitioned from the EU to the UK. The government accepted the TRA’s recommendation to extend the safeguard measure across 10 steel product categories for a further three years and also provided for a 12-month extension of current protections for five of the 10 product categories recommended for revocation by the TRA. Following a second review in 2022, the Secretary of State then decided to maintain a safeguard on 15 categories of steel for a further two years.
- Since 2022, two of the 15 categories have been split to ensure the categories better reflect different trade flows – category 12 has become 12A and 12B and category 25 has become 25A and 25B. The TRA therefore investigated the following categories individually during the extension review: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12A, 12B, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 25A, 25B, and 26.
- Trade remedy investigations were carried out by the EU Commission on the UK’s behalf until the UK left the EU. A number of EU trade remedy measures of interest to UK producers were carried across into UK law when the UK left the EU and the TRA has been reviewing each one to assess whether they are suitable for UK needs.
- Safeguard measures are one of three types of trade remedies – along with anti-dumping measures which counter goods being ‘dumped’ into countries at prices below their normal price in their country of origin and countervailing measures against countervailable subsidies – that are allowed under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
- Safeguard measures are emergency actions responding to increased imports of particular products, which cause serious injury to the importing country’s domestic industry. They apply to all imports (with some exceptions), rather than being focused on imports from particular countries. They impose duties when imports exceed a level reflecting traditional trading patterns.
- Ahead of the potential expiry of the safeguard measure in June 2026, interested parties are able to apply for the TRA to conduct new trade remedies investigations, looking at specific steel products from certain countries that may either be dumping goods into the UK or subsidising those steel products, which could cause injury to UK producers.
