The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has accepted the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA)’s final recommendation to revoke a safeguard measure on Category 2 steel products.
Category 2 steel products include non-alloy and other alloy cold-rolled sheets of steel. They are used in the manufacture of parts for the automotive industry and domestic appliances, as well as other goods. Cold-rolled steel can be found in such consumer products as radiators, steel drums, domestic appliances, racking, shelving and metal furniture.
The TRA began a discontinuation review of the safeguard measure on Category 2 steel products following an application from Tata Steel UK (TSUK). TSUK claimed that, due to its discontinuation of Category 2 steel production, there had been a lasting change of circumstances since the safeguard measure was originally imposed. TSUK, as the sole active domestic producer of Category 2 steel, was therefore unlikely to suffer serious injury if the measure was revoked.
During its investigation, the TRA provided interested parties with the opportunity to comment on the proposed recommendation. Parties that provided comments were supportive of the proposed recommendation. If the safeguard measure continued to apply, it would result either in increased prices for downstream consumers or upstream stockholders.
An anti-dumping measure on imports of cold rolled flat steel from Russia and China remains in place.
Background information
- The TRA opened this investigation in November 2024 in response to an application from Tata Steel UK.
- The Trade Remedies Authority is the UK body that investigates whether new trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports.
- The TRA is an arm’s length body of the Department for Business & Trade.
- UK industries concerned about imports can submit applications to the TRA for a new trade remedy measure.
- 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.
