The UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has proposed an increase in the import quota for non-alloy and other alloy hot rolled flat steel (Category 1) to a total of 2.9 million mt products due to a reduction in domestic production, led by the recent closure of a blast furnace at the Port Talbot works of Tata Steel UK, a subsidiary of India-based steelmaker Tata Steel Limited. The TRA has proposed varying the measure by duplicating Category 1 to form Categories 1A and 1B. The import allowance under category 1A equates to just over one million mt annually, and under category 1B, to around 1.9 million mt annually.
The reduction in domestic production has resulted in an increase in imports consistently exhausting part of the quota for hot rolled flat steel products across four consecutive quarters. This in turn has driven up the cost of these products for the UK market. The TRA has also proposed that the Category 1B quota be allocated on a global basis to allow companies to establish reliable supply chains for domestic processing, with a cap in the range of 37-42 percent to ensure no single country’s exports dominate this new quota.
The products in question fall under the codes 72081000, 72082500, 72082600, 72082700, 72083600, 72083700, 72083800, 72083900, 72084000, 72085210, 72085299, 72085310, 72085390, 72085400, 72111300, 72111400, 72111900, 72126000, 72251910, 72253010, 72253030, 72253090, 72254015, 72254090, 72261910, 72269120, 72269191, and 72269199.