The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has published its initial conclusions in a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) review on steel imports from developing countries in categories which are subject to the UK steel safeguard trade remedy measure.
The TRA initially received a request to review the developing country exceptions on rebar, one of the categories of steel covered by the safeguard measure. The TRA has decided to review these exceptions for all other categories of steel covered, bringing forward its planned regular annual review to ensure a full response to any new trading patterns that emerged in 2022. The existing quotas were set in July 2022.
Initial conclusions
The TRA's main findings were that:
- The 3% import share threshold for the developing country exception was exceeded in 37 instances in 2022, covering imports from ten countries across 16 categories of steel. The countries are Bahrain, Brazil, Egypt, India, Malaysia, People's Republic of China (PRC), Tunisia, Turkey, UAE and Vietnam.
- This represents a modest increase from the 29 instances where the 3% threshold was found to have been exceeded in the TRA's previous review of the developing country exception for steel safeguards carried out in summer 2022.
How tariff rate quotas work
Tariff rate quotas (TRQs) are part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) architecture. They specify how much of a product can be imported into a country before trade flows are subject to higher tariffs. Under the WTO's Safeguard Agreement, imports from developing countries are excepted from safeguard measures if the goods imported are 3% or less of the total imports of that product and if, collectively, these low volume exporters account for no more than 9% of the total imports of that product. Members of the WTO are responsible for managing their own developing country exceptions to TRQs.
The TRA has assessed whether the exceptions for steel imports to the UK from developing countries should be amended based on updated import data. The TRA's assessment considers imports from all developing countries, including countries which are currently excepted from the measure and those which are not. Imports from developing countries with separate exceptions under Free Trade Agreements or Economic Partnership Agreements have not been considered in the assessment
Comment on the TRA's findings
If you think your business will be affected by the TRA's conclusions, you can review the TRA's initial conclusions and submit comments. YDeveloping Country Exception reviews are conducted using statistical analysis of HMRC trade data. You can submit comments on the TRA's online case platform or to tq0030
