UK’s Trade Remedies Authority said that it will reconsider its recommendations over scrapping tariffs on some steel imports after it has received eight submissions from five domestic steel producers and three importers asking for it to review its initial assessment. The producers said that the TRA should have extended protections to more categories of steel products, while the importers wanted more protections to be scrapped.UK Steel Director General Mr Gareth Stace said “The steel sector welcomes the announcement of the TRA’s formal reconsideration of its original decision to terminate steel safeguards on half of steel products. Such a termination would leave the sector exposed to uncontrolled surges in imports and undermine the effectiveness of the remaining safeguards, threatening the long-term viability the UK’s steel sector. There are strong legal, WTO compliant, grounds for the maintenance of these measures for the full three-year term. Moreover, at a time when the EU and US have maintained their own protections on all steel products, and UK’s steel producers face obstacles to exporting into these markets, it is the only sensible course of action to maintain equal measures for our own producers.”Trade body UK Steel warned in June 2021 that such a decision would be a hammer blow for a sector which has been struggling for years and with both the US and EU keeping strict tariffs in place, UK could become a dumping ground for cheaper steel.Back in June the TRA triggered mass outrage from the steel industry when it said that tariffs should be scrapped across nine of 19 product categories. The recommendation was accepted by the Secretary of State for International Trade, who also provided for a 12-month extension of the current protections for five of the nine product categories set to be given the axe.
UK’s Trade Remedies Authority said that it will reconsider its recommendations over scrapping tariffs on some steel imports after it has received eight submissions from five domestic steel producers and three importers asking for it to review its initial assessment. The producers said that the TRA should have extended protections to more categories of steel products, while the importers wanted more protections to be scrapped.UK Steel Director General Mr Gareth Stace said “The steel sector welcomes the announcement of the TRA’s formal reconsideration of its original decision to terminate steel safeguards on half of steel products. Such a termination would leave the sector exposed to uncontrolled surges in imports and undermine the effectiveness of the remaining safeguards, threatening the long-term viability the UK’s steel sector. There are strong legal, WTO compliant, grounds for the maintenance of these measures for the full three-year term. Moreover, at a time when the EU and US have maintained their own protections on all steel products, and UK’s steel producers face obstacles to exporting into these markets, it is the only sensible course of action to maintain equal measures for our own producers.”Trade body UK Steel warned in June 2021 that such a decision would be a hammer blow for a sector which has been struggling for years and with both the US and EU keeping strict tariffs in place, UK could become a dumping ground for cheaper steel.Back in June the TRA triggered mass outrage from the steel industry when it said that tariffs should be scrapped across nine of 19 product categories. The recommendation was accepted by the Secretary of State for International Trade, who also provided for a 12-month extension of the current protections for five of the nine product categories set to be given the axe.
