Notice

Trade remedies notice 2022/01: safeguard measure: tariff-rate quota on steel goods

Updated 30 September 2024

This notice was published on 30 June 2022, with effect from 1 July 2022. The year 6 quota allocations were superseded by Trade Remedies Notice 2023/10 on 30 June 2023.

This public notice is published by the Secretary of State under regulation 15(1)(b) of the Trade Remedies (Review and Reconsideration of Transitioned Trade Remedies) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/113) (“the Regulations”) and gives effect to a decision of the Secretary of State under regulation 12 of the Regulations.

The application of the steel safeguard measure will be temporarily suspended for 2 years (from 1 July 2022 until 30 June 2024) with respect to goods originating in Ukraine.

1. Summary of the investigation conducted in relation to the matters under reconsideration

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) accepted eight applications for reconsideration, the grounds of which set the scope for ongoing analysis. In addition to these, the TRA received 22 non-application submissions and two further responses from Interested Parties which were all taken into consideration. The TRA initiated its reconsideration on 7 September 2021.

On 22 March 2022, the Secretary of State informed the TRA that under Regulation 3(b) of the Call-in Regulations, she intended to take a decision as to whether to vary, maintain or revoke the tariff rate quotas applicable to goods that were the subject of the reconsideration.

In the transition review the TRA considered 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017 as the period of investigation (POI), 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2020 as the most recent period (MRP), and 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 as the last three representative years for assessing traditional trade flows. The TRA gathered information about these periods during the transition review to inform assessments.

2. Increase in imports and significance

The TRA found that the aggregated UK import data for group 1 (flat products) and group 3 (pipes/tubes) showed a sudden, recent, sharp, and significant absolute and relative increase.

The TRA found that the aggregated UK import data for group 2 (long products) did not show a sudden, recent, sharp, and significant absolute increase or relative increase.

3. Likelihood of increase in imports

The TRA found that the evidence for the global steel market suggested it was highly likely there would be an oversupply in the international market for steel products under review for the foreseeable future.

An industry level analysis considering capacity, import trends, actions of other authorities, and attractiveness of UK market indicated a significant likelihood that imports would increase across all categories if the measure were revoked.

A group level analysis considering import trends found it likely that imports would significantly increase for all groups if safeguard measures were revoked.

4. Serious injury or threat of serious injury to UK producers

The TRA assessed several indicators to identify impairment to the position of UK industry, however caused, and reported where it believed that, based on findings against one or more indicators, there was evidence that provided an indication of, or would be consistent with serious injury.

At an industry level, each assessment found an indication of serious injury except for the indicator ‘productivity’ and ‘market share’ where no indication of serious injury was found.

At an industry level other potential factors were assessed to establish whether they could also be a cause of serious injury. The TRA considered COVID-19, the UK’s departure from the EU, and cost of production and found it was not clear that any of these caused the serious injury previously experienced, nor was there any reason to believe that any of these factors (or all combined) were significant enough to foreseeably break a link between import pressure and serious injury.

At an aggregated group level, assessments were undertaken to identify any indications of serious injury. For group 1 an indication of serious injury was found in all assessments except productivity and price effects where no indication of serious injury was found. For group 2 an indication of serious injury was found in all assessments except increase in imports, market share, sales volume, and capacity utilisation where no indication of serious injury was found. For group 3 an indication of serious injury was found in all assessments except sales volume, production volume, productivity, and capacity utilisation where no indication of serious injury was found.

As a result of the above assessments at industry and group level the TRA found that there were indications of serious injury to UK producers for all three steel product category groups.

5. Economic interest test

The TRA found evidence of positive impacts of extending the measure, as compared to revoking it. These included benefits to the UK steel industry from removing the likelihood of serious injury, in light of global overcapacity and the risk of trade diversion due to continuation of the measure in other major markets. Extending the measure would also likely benefit the upstream suppliers of scrap metal that relied on demand from the steel industry and would allow UK producers to remain viable suppliers to the UK market and competitive in the long term.

The TRA recognised that there were some potentially significant negative impacts of extending the measure. For example, importers would be less able to compete with UK producers above quota amounts and costs to downstream industries could increase. In the short-term, extension of the safeguard measure could hinder the ability of overseas suppliers to compete as effectively as in the absence of the measure and could result in a lower number of suppliers in the UK market.

The TRA concluded that the negative impacts did not outweigh the significant impacts and therefore found that the EIT was met for a safeguard measure to be applied to product categories 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12A, 12B, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 25A, 25B, and 26.

6. Summary of the Secretary of State for International Trade’s conclusions

The Secretary of State has taken into account the TRA’s findings in sections 2.1 to 2.4 of the TRA’s Report of Findings and concluded that the maintenance of TRQs is necessary to remedy serious injury. The Secretary of State also recognised that adjustments are required to certain TRQ’s to better reflect trade flows.

In its Report of Findings, the TRA identified indications of serious injury. The Secretary of State has taken into account the Report of Findings and concluded that removal of the steel safeguard measure would likely result in an increase in imports and therefore would result in serious injury or the threat of serious injury to UK steel producers.

There is evidence in the TRA’s Report of Findings that removal of the measure would likely result in an increase in imports of steel products due to:

  • global steel overcapacity – there would be an oversupply in the international market for steel products under review for the foreseeable future (section 2.2).
  • import trends – The TRA found an ongoing high rate of import volume during the most recent period, including during the introduction of the EU safeguard measure in 2018 and the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. The TRA also found an increase in import volume during the period of investigation and most recent period, relative to domestic production of multiple product categories in each group (section 2.2).
  • actions of other authorities – US steel tariffs imposed in 2018 caused a knock-on effect resulting in numerous other countries introducing trade remedy measures to protect against the diversion of steel products. Were the UK to remove its safeguard, the evidence indicates that the UK would face an increase in diverted steel product imports (section 2.2).
  • attractive UK market – actions taken by other authorities reduced their attractiveness and consequently increased the attractiveness of the UK as an export destination for steel products. Not only this, but equivalent countries such as Japan and South Korea experienced import penetration levels than the UK despite the implementation of the EU’s safeguard measure, indicating the UK is a comparatively attractive market (section 2.2).

When investigated at an aggregate level (both at the industry level and at the group level) the Secretary of State concluded that UK steel producers were suffering threat of serious injury or threat of serious injury and that this would be likely to increase should the safeguard measure be removed. The Secretary of State has taken into account the assessments made throughout section 2.3 of the TRA Report of Findings that, at industry and group level, there were indications of serious injury to UK producers for all three steel product category groups.

7. Summary of the Secretary of State for International Trade’s decision

The steel safeguard measure will continue to apply on the following 10 steel categories until 30 June 2024:

  • 1 – Non-alloy and other alloy hot-rolled sheet and strip
  • 2 – Non-alloy and other alloy cold-rolled sheet
  • 4 – Metallic coated sheet
  • 5 – Organic coated sheet
  • 13 – Rebar
  • 19 – Railway material
  • 20 – Gas pipe
  • 21 – Hollow section
  • 25 – Large welded tube
  • 26 – Other welded tube

In reaching this decision, the Secretary of State for International Trade had regard to the public interest and the advice provided by the TRA on the economic interest.

Goods category [**] Goods category name ‘UK Global Tariff’ commodity code
A [1] Non-alloy and other alloy hot-rolled sheet and strip 72 08 10 00
72 08 25 00
72 08 26 00
72 08 27 00
72 08 36 00
72 08 37 00
72 08 38 00
72 08 39 00
72 08 40 00
72 08 52 10
72 08 52 99
72 08 53 10
72 08 53 90
72 08 54 00
72 11 13 00
72 11 14 00
72 11 19 00
72 12 60 00
72 25 19 10
72 25 30 10
72 25 30 30
72 25 30 90
72 25 40 15
72 25 40 90
72 26 19 10
72 26 91 20
72 26 91 91
72 26 91 99
B [2] Non-alloy and other alloy cold-rolled sheet 72 09 15 00
72 09 16 90
72 09 17 90
72 09 18 91
72 09 25 00
72 09 26 90
72 09 27 90
72 09 28 90
72 09 90 20
72 09 90 80
72 11 23 20
72 11 23 30
72 11 23 80
72 11 29 00
72 11 90 20
72 11 90 80
72 25 50 20
72 25 50 80
72 26 20 00
72 26 92 00
C [4] Metallic coated sheet 72 10 20 00
72 10 41 00
72 10 49 00
72 10 61 00
72 10 69 00
20
72 10 69 00
80
72 10 90 80
72 12 20 00
72 12 30 00
72 12 50 20
72 12 50 30
72 12 50 40
72 12 50 61
72 12 50 69
72 12 50 90
72 25 91 00
72 25 92 00
72 25 99 00
72 26 99 10
72 26 99 30
72 26 99 70
D [5] Organic coated sheet 72 10 70 80
72 12 40 80
E [13] Rebar 72 14 20 00
72 14 99 10
F [19] Railway material 73 02 10 22
73 02 10 28
73 02 10 50
G [20] Gas pipe 73 06 30 41
73 06 30 49
73 06 30 72
73 06 30 77
H [21] Hollow section 73 06 61 10
73 06 61 92
73 06 61 99
I [25A] Large welded tube (1) 73 05 11 00
73 05 12 00
J [25B] Large welded tube (2) 73 05 19 00
73 05 20 00
73 05 31 00
73 05 39 00
73 05 90 00
K [26] Other welded tube 73 06 11 00
73 06 19 00
73 06 30 12
73 06 30 18
73 06 21 00
73 06 29 00
73 06 50 21
73 06 50 29
73 06 30 80
73 06 40 20
73 06 40 80
73 06 50 80
73 06 69 10
73 06 69 90
73 06 90 00

** The number in square brackets indicates the corresponding category of steel products in Taxation Notice 2020/06: Safeguard measures on certain steel products – application of tariff rate quotas, which had effect from 11 pm on 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2022.

8. Duty amount

The additional amount of duty (“safeguard duty”) applicable to steel goods imported outside of the quota is 25% ad valorem.

The safeguard duty is applicable to the net free-at-the-frontier price of the good (before any other amount of import duty).

9. Duration

The tariff-rate quota set out in this notice has effect from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2024.

10. Quota amount and allocation

The quota is divided into 8 Quarters over 2 years and specifies for each goods category the amount of steel goods that may be imported free of safeguard duty in any given Quarter.

11. Right to access quota

The right to access the quota is granted by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to importers in the United Kingdom on a first-come, first-served basis.

Importers are asked to cite the relevant order number set out in the Annex when applying to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to access a particular quota.

12. Limited access to unused quota in next quarter of same year

Any unused quota allocated for steel goods originating in a country or territory remains available in the next Quarter for steels goods originating in that country or territory. Any unused balance may cumulate within the same year but any quota remaining at the end of each year is not available in the next year.

13. Open access to unused quota in quarter 4 of each year

Importers of steel goods originating in a country or territory with an exhausted quota allocation for the year may, only in Quarter 4 of that year, apply for the right to use any remaining quota allocated for steel goods originating in all other countries or territories.

14. Quota amount and allocation for year 5

1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, in tonnes (t), allocated quarterly:

  • Quarter 1: 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022;
  • Quarter 2: 1 October 2022 to 31 December 2022;
  • Quarter 3: 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023;
  • Quarter 4: 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023.

The application of the steel safeguard measure will be suspended from 1 July 2022 until 30 June 2023 with respect to goods originating in Ukraine

Goods category Origin country or territory Year 5 quarter 1 Year 5 quarter 2 Year 5 quarter 3 Year 5 quarter 4
A [1] European Union 176,722 176,722 172,880 174,801
A [1] Turkey 23,203 23,203 22,699 22,951
A [1] Taiwan 12,918 12,918 12,637 12,777
A [1] All others 22,233 22,233 21,750 21,991
B [2] European Union 76,412 76,412 74,751 75,581
B [2] South Korea 11,240 11,240 10,996 11,118
B [2] India 9,396 9,396 9,192 9,294
B [2] Vietnam 6,807 6,807 6,659 6,733
B [2] All others 17,036 17,036 16,666 16,851
C [4] European Union 305,241 305,241 298,605 301,923
C [4] Taiwan 31,558 31,558 30,872 31,215
C [4] India 23,307 23,307 22,801 23,054
C [4] Turkey 23,242 23,242 22,736 22,989
C [4] All others 80,601 80,601 78,849 79,725
D [5] European Union 34,543 34,543 33,792 34,167
D [5] South Korea 14,037 14,037 13,732 13,884
D [5] All others 2,098 2,098 2,053 2,075
E [13] European Union 70,174 70,174 68,648 69,411
E [13] Turkey 33,245 33,245 32,522 32,883
E [13] All others 22,635 22,635 22,143 22,389
F [19] European Union 4,517 4,517 4,419 4,468
F [19] All others 133 133 130 131
G [20] Turkey 14,810 14,810 14,489 14,649
G [20] European Union 6,666 6,666 6,521 6,593
G [20] India 3,427 3,427 3,352 3,390
G [20] United Arab Emirates 2,272 2,272 2,223 2,247
G [20] All others 696 696 681 689
H [21] Turkey 35,157 35,157 34,393 34,775
H [21] European Union 10,671 10,671 10,439 10,555
H [21] All others 3,244 3,244 3,174 3,209
I [25A] Japan 7,794 7,794 7,624 7,709
I [25A] European Union 5,963 5,963 5,834 5,899
I [25A] South Korea 1,191 1,191 1,165 1,178
I [25A] All others 2,102 2,102 2,057 2,079
J [25B] European Union 15,339 15,339 15,006 15,173
J [25B] South Korea 4,409 4,409 4,313 4,361
J [25B] Japan 1,932 1,932 1,890 1,911
J [25B] All others 4,650 4,650 4,549 4,600
K [26] European Union 21,488 21,488 21,021 21,255
K [26] United Arab Emirates 14,441 14,441 14,127 14,284
K [26] Turkey 10,490 10,490 10,262 10,376
K [26] China 5,518 5,518 5,398 5,458
K [26] All others 9,528 9,528 9,320 9,424

15. Quota amount and allocation for year 6

1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, in tonnes (t), allocated quarterly:

  • Quarter 1: 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023;
  • Quarter 2: 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023;
  • Quarter 3: 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024;
  • Quarter 4: 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024.

The application of the steel safeguard measure will be suspended from 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2024 with respect to goods originating in Ukraine.

Goods category Origin country or territory Year 6 quarter 1 Year 6 quarter 2 Year 6 quarter 3 Year 6 quarter 4
A [1] European Union 181,526 181,526 179,553 179,553
A [1] Turkey 23,834 23,834 23,575 23,575
A [1] Taiwan 13,269 13,269 13,125 13,125
A [1] All others 22,837 22,837 22,589 22,589
B [2] European Union 78,489 78,489 77,636 77,636
B [2] South Korea 11,546 11,546 11,421 11,421
B [2] India 9,652 9,652 9,547 9,547
B [2] Vietnam 6,992 6,992 6,916 6,916
B [2] All others 17,499 17,499 17,309 17,309
C [4] European Union 313,539 313,539 310,131 310,131
C [4] Taiwan 32,416 32,416 32,063 32,063
C [4] India 23,941 23,941 23,681 23,681
C [4] Turkey 23,873 23,873 23,614 23,614
C [4] All others 82,792 82,792 81,892 81,892
D [5] European Union 35,482 35,482 35,096 35,096
D [5] South Korea 14,419 14,419 14,262 14,262
D [5] All others 2,155 2,155 2,132 2,132
E [13] European Union 72,081 72,081 71,298 71,298
E [13] Turkey 34,148 34,148 33,777 33,777
E [13] All others 23,250 23,250 22,997 22,997
F [19] European Union 4,640 4,640 4,590 4,590
F [19] All others 137 137 135 135
G [20] Turkey 15,213 15,213 15,048 15,048
G [20] European Union 6,847 6,847 6,773 6,773
G [20] India 3,520 3,520 3,482 3,482
G [20] United Arab Emirates 2,334 2,334 2,308 2,308
G [20] All others 715 715 708 708
H [21] Turkey 36,113 36,113 35,721 35,721
H [21] European Union 10,962 10,962 10,842 10,842
H [21] All others 3,332 3,332 3,296 3,296
I [25A] Japan 8,006 8,006 7,918 7,918
I [25A] European Union 6,126 6,126 6,059 6,059
I [25A] South Korea 1,224 1,224 1,210 1,210
I [25A] All others 2,159 2,159 2,136 2,136
J [25B] European Union 15,756 15,756 15,585 15,585
J [25B] South Korea 4,529 4,529 4,479 4,479
J [25B] Japan 1,984 1,984 1,963 1,963
J [25B] All others 4,777 4,777 4,725 4,725
K [26] European Union 22,073 22,073 21,833 21,833
K [26] United Arab Emirates 14,833 14,833 14,672 14,672
K [26] Turkey 10,775 10,775 10,658 10,658
K [26] China 5,668 5,668 5,607 5,607
K [26] All others 9,787 9,787 9,680 9,680

16. Goods excluded

Exclusion for steel goods originating in signatory countries or territories

All steel goods originating in a signatory country or territory specified below are excluded from:

a. the quota amount allocated for all other countries or territories; and b. the application of the safeguard duty.

17. Signatory countries or territories

  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Barbados
  • Belize
  • Bahamas
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Grenada
  • Guyana
  • Jamaica
  • Kenya
  • Mozambique
  • St Kitts and Nevis
  • St Lucia
  • St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Trinidad and Tobago

Limited exclusion for steel goods originating in developing countries or territories

Except for steel goods in a goods category originating in a developing country or territory annotated with that goods category, any steel goods originating in a developing country or territory specified below are excluded from:

c. the quota amount allocated for all other countries or territories; and d. the application of the safeguard duty.

Key: * denotes a quota amount for the goods category is allocated for the country or territory; ^ denotes the quota amount for the goods category allocated to all other countries or territories is available for the country or territory.

18. Developing countries or territories

  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Angola
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Belize
  • Benin
  • Bolivia
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Brunei
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cape Verde
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Chile
  • China (Category: K*)
  • Colombia
  • Congo
  • Costa Rica
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Cuba
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • Eswatini
  • Fiji
  • Gabon
  • The Gambia
  • Georgia
  • Ghana
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Hong Kong
  • India (Categories: A^; B*; C*; D^; E^; G*; K^)
  • Indonesia
  • Jamaica
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Macao
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Moldova
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Namibia
  • Nepal
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • North Macedonia
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Qatar
  • Rwanda
  • St Kitts and Nevis
  • St Lucia
  • St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Samoa
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Solomon Islands
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Suriname
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Togo
  • Tonga
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia (Category.: B^)
  • Turkey (Categories: A*; C*; E*; G*; H*; K*)
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine (Cat.: B^)
  • United Arab Emirates (Categories: G*; H^; K*)
  • Uruguay
  • Vanuatu
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam (Categories.: B*; C^; D^)
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

19. Annex

Order numbers for importers to access the tariff-rate quota on steel goods

Goods category Origin country or territory Order number
A European Union 058001
A Turkey 058967
A Taiwan 058085
A All others 058002
B European Union 058003
B South Korea 058802
B India 058801
B Vietnam 058086
B All others 058005
C European Union 058006
C Taiwan 058088
C India 058106
C Turkey 058107
C All others 058007
D European Union 058010
D South Korea 058827
D All others 058011
E European Union 058018
E Turkey 058866
E All others 058020
F European Union 058030
F All others 058031
G Turkey 058911
G European Union 058032
G India 058912
G United Arab Emirates 058090
G All others 058033
H Turkey 058916
H European Union 058034
H All others 058035
I Japan 058108
I European Union 058091
I South Korea 058095
I All others 058036
J European Union 058037
J South Korea 058974
J Japan 058109
J All others 058038
K European Union 058039
K United Arab Emirates 058948
K Turkey 058947
K China 058949
K All others 058041