TRA opens review of steel safeguard measure
The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has initiated an extension review of the safeguard measure on 15 categories of steel products.
The TRA has initiated an extension review of the safeguard measure on 15 categories of steel products.
The measure is due to expire on 30 June 2024. The review will recommend to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade if the safeguard measure should be extended by up to two further years to 2026 .
In 2020, 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, but also provided for a 12-month extension of current protections for five of the nine 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.
In initiating this extension review today, the TRA will investigate:
- whether a surge in steel imports is likely to recur,
- whether the measure currently in place has removed or reduced serious injury to the UK steel industry,
- whether it is likely that serious injury will recur if the measure is not extended,
- whether the circumstances of UK producers, or domestic or overseas market conditions are such that the serious injury caused by a surge in steel imports is likely to recur,
- any adjustments made by UK producers and any other factors we consider relevant.
The Secretary of State will then make a decision based on the analysis of the TRA’s review.
Businesses that may be affected by the review (such as importers or exporters of steel products or UK producers of similar products) can contribute to the review by registering on the TRA’s online case platform. They can also stay up to date with developments in the case, which will be posted on the TRA’s public file.
Notes to editors:
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The TRA is the UK body that investigates whether trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports.
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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.
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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.
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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.