The UK government has announced that it has reached a deal on Section 232 with the US following two months of talks.
Accordingly, the UK has secured annual tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for steel exports to the US for a total of 500,000 mt under 54 product categories, while after exhaustion of the quotas a 25 percent tariff will be applied. The changes will take effect on June 1, 2022.
According to the deal, exclusion mechanisms will be maintained. Steel has to be melted and poured in the UK to make use of the TRQs.
In response, the UK will suspend rebalancing measures on US products including whiskey, blue jeans and motorcycles. The UK and the US have also agreed to work closely to address the wider issue of global steel excess capacity and market-distorting practices, agreeing to expand US/UK coordination involving customs matters. In order to establish more market-oriented conditions for the steel and aluminum industries, the US and the UK will continue to take effective and appropriate domestic measures, such as antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard measures or other measures.
In addition, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, international trade secretary of the UK, has written to the UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) asking it to reconsider the UK’s steel safeguard measure. The TRA will provide assistance in the case and provide a report setting out their findings for the UK Secretary of State to consider.