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Background

Steel is essential for a modern and secure economy underpinning many sectors, from construction to advanced manufacturing. The UK steel industry provides high-quality jobs in local economies (around 40,000 jobs across the country and around 61,000 jobs in the upstream supply chain in 2024) and plays a vital role in infrastructure, manufacturing and defence supply chains, which are critical for economic growth.

However, the UK steel industry faces a challenging global trading landscape due to significant steel overcapacity. This artificially and unfairly lowers prices, reducing profitability and hindering investments in modern and lower-carbon technologies. In this global context, increased dependency on steel imports then impacts the security and resilience of UK supply-chains and exposes the UK to the risk of price fluctuations and disruption.

The UK government has taken steps to protect our steel industry from unfair trading practices through the use of trade remedies. This includes 15 anti-dumping and 2 anti-subsidy measures on imports from 7 individual countries, and a global safeguard measure on steel imports. This safeguard is set to expire in June 2026 in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. For more information on the safeguard, refer to Annex A.

Overcapacity is where steelmaking capacity persistently and significantly exceeds global demand for steel and, in 2023, stood at 551 metric tonnes, which is about 45 times the UK’s steelmaking capacity. Compounding this problem is trade deflection where steel exporters redirect trade from markets with high tariffs to those with relatively lower tariffs, which can further push down prices, impact profitability, and hinder essential investment in the steel industry.

Global steel overcapacity and its impacts on our steel industry is not a problem unique to the UK. It has also been long recognised as a problem by our trading partners, who have applied similar measures to the UK. However, research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)^{[footnote 1]} has shown that this may be a longer-term structural challenge, rather than the kind of short-term import surge safeguards are intended to address. Global steelmaking capacity, and resulting excess capacity, is expected to rise until at least the end of 2026.Ìý

The government recognises the need to continue to address this growing global problem and support our steel industry following the expiration of the existing safeguard. This will ensure the UK continues to protect its national interests and deliver a competitive and fair business environment that the steel industry and the UK economy need to grow.

An effective rules-based international system that upholds the principles of open and fair trade is as critical for the UK’s Growth Mission as it is for global prosperity. The UK is committed to maintaining and promoting these principles across the globe.

It is within this context that the government is seeking input from stakeholders on the evidence needed to support UK government policy development of future trade options on imported steel products. The purpose of this Call for Evidence is to seek stakeholder input from across the steel supply chain to ensure that future trade policy balances the needs of all interested parties. This includes manufacturers, distributors, and end-users of steel products, as well as other industries that may be indirectly affected by any policy changes. For more information on tariffs, refer to Annex B.

The objectives of this Call for Evidence have been designed to align with the UK’s Industrial Strategy and Trade Strategy, resilience of steel supply chains, and other wider priorities within the steel strategy.

Call for Evidence

We have heard from business leaders and industry experts on the importance of the steel sector and how best to support it amid challenging international trade conditions. These insights have informed this Call for Evidence and will continue to inform our wider approach to steel policy.

Stakeholders are invited to provide input on:

• their current steel production, imports, and exports of steel products
• the effect of the current steel safeguard on domestic production and steel imports
• how the government should continue to support the steel industry from overcapacity

Stakeholders are not invited to provide input on the following measures as they are not within scope of this Call for Evidence:

• the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as it is an environmental policy on which the government has run separate consultation processes including with the steel industry
• energy support for energy-intensive industries like steel
• broader, non-trade-related support for the steel sector, which is being considered as part of the government’s Steel Strategy

When considering the responses to this questionnaire, the government’s policy approach will be informed by all relevant factors including:

• the interests of producers in the UK of the goods concerned
• the interests of downstream users in the UK
• the desirability of maintaining and promoting the external trade of the UK
• the interests of consumers in the UK
• the desirability of maintaining and promoting productivity in the UK
• the extent to which the goods concerned are subject to competition
• relevant international arrangements to which the UK is a party

We encourage respondents to refer to the above in their answers and to provide any further comments and evidence to support their views. Decisions made will take account of feedback from stakeholders.

How to respond

You can respond to the Call for Evidence by completing the .

If you have any technical problems with using the online survey, contact steeltrademeasuresCfE@businessandtrade.gov.uk.

Next steps

Once the Call for Evidence has closed, the government will review and analyse the responses received.

Annex A

Steel safeguards and the current import regime for steel

Safeguards are a quota on imports intended to protect the UK market from unforeseen surges of imports. Certain steel imports over the quota are levied with a 25% tariff. The steel safeguard was initially imposed in 2018 while the UK was an EU member state. Following the transition period, the UK government temporarily maintained 19 of the 26 categories originally put in place by the EU. The safeguard has been subject to several subsequent reviews, with various recommendations from the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA). Ahead of the planned end date of the safeguard of June 2024, the TRA recommended safeguard measures to be extended for all remaining 15 categories of steel until 30 June 2026 (however category 2 has since been revoked).Ìý

Subject to WTO rules, a safeguard is a temporary mechanism intended to give domestic industry time to adapt to the change in market conditions. According to these rules the UK steel safeguard cannot be extended beyond that date.

Table A:Ìýsteel safeguard categories and quotas, and their respective quota allocations and utilisation rates July 2023 to June 2024Ìý

Category number	Category description	Origin country or territory	Total quota allocation, tonnes	Overall quota utilisation
1*	Non-alloy and other alloy hot-rolled sheet and strip	EU	722,158	67%
Ìý	Ìý	Turkey	94,818	66%
Ìý	Ìý	Taiwan	52,788	78%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	90,852	100%
2**	Non-alloy and other alloy cold-rolled sheet	EU	312,250	30%
Ìý	Ìý	South Korea	45,934	84%
Ìý	Ìý	India	38,398	75%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	97,436	67%
4	Metallic coated sheet	EU	1,247,340	41%
Ìý	Ìý	Taiwan	128,958	33%
Ìý	Ìý	India	95,244	100%
Ìý	Ìý	Turkey	94,974	0%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	329,368	97%
5	Organic coated sheet	EU	141,156	45%
Ìý	Ìý	South Korea	57,362	100%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	8,574	43%
13	Rebar	EU	286,758	69%
Ìý	Ìý	Turkey	135,850	27%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	92,494	100%
19	Railway material	EU	18,460	33%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	544	0%
20	Gas pipe	Turkey	60,522	56%
Ìý	Ìý	EU	27,240	70%
Ìý	Ìý	India	14,004	81%
Ìý	Ìý	UAE	9,284	30%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	2,846	5%
21	Hollow section	Turkey	143,668	69%
Ìý	Ìý	EU	43,608	91%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	13,256	67%
25A	Large welded tube (1)	Japan	31,848	1%
Ìý	Ìý	EU	24,370	23%
Ìý	Ìý	South Korea	4,868	7%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	8,590	36%
25B	Large welded tube (2)	EU	62,682	53%
Ìý	Ìý	South Korea	18,016	29%
Ìý	Ìý	Japan	7,894	1%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	19,004	36%
26	Other welded tube	EU	87,812	56%
Ìý	Ìý	UAE	59,010	44%
Ìý	Ìý	Turkey	42,866	79%
Ìý	Ìý	China	22,550	69%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	38,934	33%
6	Tin Mill products	EU	123,080	13%
Ìý	Ìý	China	31,248	64%
Ìý	Ìý	Taiwan	10,204	29%
Ìý	Ìý	South Korea	9,686	15%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	4,176	8%
7	Non-alloy and Other Alloy Quarto Plates	EU	273,894	72%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	97,742	81%
12a	Alloy merchant bars and light sections	EU	113,584	45%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	16,338	17%
12b	Non-alloy merchant bars and light sections	EU	136,442	82%
Ìý	Ìý	Turkey	51,356	97%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	29,184	11%
16	Non-alloy and Other Alloy Wire Rod	EU	288,678	75%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	12,604	61%
17	Angles, Shapes, and Sections of Iron or Non-alloy Steel	EU	657,296	61%
Ìý	Ìý	All others	68,310	64%

Source: Ìý

*Category 1 is now divided into 1A and 1BÌý

**Category 2 has now been revokedÌý

Developing country exemptions

The WTO Agreement on Safeguards provides that imports from developing countries are exempted from the steel safeguard tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) if the goods imported are less than 3% 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.

Steel goods originating in a developing country or territory specified in Table B are generally excluded from both the quota amount allocated for all other countries or territories, and the application of the safeguard duty. However, as noted, certain developing countries or territories are not exempt from the steel safeguard due to the higher levels of steel they export to the UK in categories noted.

Table B lists all countries defined as developing countries, and any categories where the country or territory is currently^{[footnote 2]} not exempt from the steel safeguard.

Table B:Ìýlist of developing countries and territories exempt from the UK steel safeguard, and categories where the exemption currently does not apply

Developing Country	Safeguard application
Afghanistan	Fully exempt
Albania	Fully exempt
Angola	Fully exempt
Antigua and Barbuda	Fully exempt
Argentina	Fully exempt
Armenia	Fully exempt
Bahrain	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 17
Bangladesh	Fully exempt
Barbados	Fully exempt
Belize	Fully exempt
Benin	Fully exempt
Bolivia	Fully exempt
Botswana	Fully exempt
Brazil	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 2, 25B
Brunei	Fully exempt
Burkina Faso	Fully exempt
Burundi	Fully exempt
Cape Verde	Fully exempt
Cambodia	Fully exempt
Cameroon	Fully exempt
Central African Republic	Fully exempt
Chad	Fully exempt
Chile	Fully exempt
China	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 6, 12A, 12B, 25A, 26
Colombia	Fully exempt
Congo	Fully exempt
Costa Rica	Fully exempt
Côte d’Ivoire	Fully exempt
Cuba	Fully exempt
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Fully exempt
Djibouti	Fully exempt
Dominica	Fully exempt
Dominican Republic	Fully exempt
Ecuador	Fully exempt
Egypt	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 13
El Salvador	Fully exempt
Eswatini	Fully exempt
Fiji	Fully exempt
Gabon	Fully exempt
The Gambia	Fully exempt
Georgia	Fully exempt
Ghana	Fully exempt
Grenada	Fully exempt
Guatemala	Fully exempt
Guinea	Fully exempt
Guinea-Bissau	Fully exempt
Guyana	Fully exempt
Haiti	Fully exempt
Honduras	Fully exempt
Hong Kong	Fully exempt
India	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17, 20, 26
Indonesia	Fully exempt
Jamaica	Fully exempt
Jordan	Fully exempt
Kazakhstan	Fully exempt
Kenya	Fully exempt
Kuwait	Fully exempt
Kyrgyzstan	Fully exempt
Laos	Fully exempt
Lesotho	Fully exempt
Liberia	Fully exempt
Macao	Fully exempt
Madagascar	Fully exempt
Malawi	Fully exempt
Malaysia	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 13
Maldives	Fully exempt
Mali	Fully exempt
Mauritania	Fully exempt
Mauritius	Fully exempt
Mexico	Fully exempt
Moldova	Fully exempt
Mongolia	Fully exempt
Montenegro	Fully exempt
Morocco	Fully exempt
Mozambique	Fully exempt
Myanmar (Burma)	Fully exempt
Namibia	Fully exempt
Nepal	Fully exempt
Nicaragua	Fully exempt
Niger	Fully exempt
Nigeria	Fully exempt
North Macedonia	Fully exempt
Oman	Fully exempt
Pakistan	Fully exempt
Panama	Fully exempt
Papua New Guinea	Fully exempt
Paraguay	Fully exempt
Peru	Fully exempt
Philippines	Fully exempt
Qatar	Fully exempt
Rwanda	Fully exempt
St Kitts and Nevis	Fully exempt
St Lucia	Fully exempt
St Vincent and the Grenadines	Fully exempt
Samoa	Fully exempt
Saudi Arabia	Fully exempt
Senegal	Fully exempt
Seychelles	Fully exempt
Sierra Leone	Fully exempt
Solomon Islands	Fully exempt
South Africa	Fully exempt
Sri Lanka	Fully exempt
Suriname	Fully exempt
Tajikistan	Fully exempt
Tanzania	Fully exempt
Thailand	Fully exempt
Togo	Fully exempt
Tonga	Fully exempt
Trinidad and Tobago	Fully exempt
Tunisia	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 2
°Õü°ù°ì¾±²â±ð	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 1, 4, 6, 7, 12B, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 25B, 26
Uganda	Fully exempt
Ukraine	Fully exempt
United Arab Emirates	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 20, 21, 26
Uruguay	Fully exempt
Vanuatu	Fully exempt
Venezuela	Fully exempt
Vietnam	Partially exempt. Not exempt from Category 4, 5
Yemen	Fully exempt
Zambia	Fully exempt
Zimbabwe	Fully exempt

Sources: Trade Remedies Notice 2023/11: safeguard measure: tariff-rate quota on steel goods, Trade Remedies Notice 2023/10: safeguard measure: tariff-rate quota on steel goods

Annex B

What are tariffsÌý

Tariffs are a tax imposed on imported goods. Under the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), countries cannot normally discriminate between trading partners when applying tariffs – this is called the most favoured nation (MFN) principle.Ìý

The UK Global Tariff (UKGT) is the UK’s MFN tariff regime which applies to all goods imported into the UK unless:Ìý

• the country you’re importing from has a trade agreement with the UKÌý
• an exception applies, such as a relief or tariff suspensionÌý
• the goods come from developing countries covered by the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS)
• a trade remedy applies to the goods you are importing
• an additional duty applies to the goods you are importing if the goods originated in Russia or Belarus

The Windsor Framework provides for certain specific arrangements regarding Northern Ireland.Ìý

How are tariff rates setÌý

In setting the tariff rates, the government will have regard to the principles set out in the , namely:Ìý

• the interests of consumers in the UK

• the interests of producers in the UK of the goods concernedÌý

• the desirability of maintaining and promoting the external trade of the UK

• the desirability of maintaining and promoting productivity in the UK

• the extent to which the goods concerned are subject to competitionÌý

The government will also seek to balance strategic trade objectives, such as the delivery of the UK’s trade ambitions and free trade agreement trade agenda, with maintaining the government’s development commitment.Ìý

Types of tariff ratesÌý

Most tariffs are applied as a percentage of the value of the goods in question – this is called an ad valorem tariff. For example, the current UK tariff on cars is 10% – so if a car imported to the UK costs £10,000, the tariff will be £1,000.Ìý

Specific tariffs are charged as a fixed amount per quantity and are primarily applied to agricultural goods. For example, the UK tariff on butter is £158 per 100kg.ÌýÌý

There are also more complex tariffs that combine a multiple factors like percentage rates, per-kilo charges or specific ingredient weights.ÌýÌý

Tariff simplificationÌý

The UKGT takes a common-sense approach to tariffs by scrapping unnecessary tariff variations, rounding tariffs down to standardised percentages, and getting rid of all ‘nuisance tariffs’ (those below 2%). Tariffs under 20% are applied in multiples of 2%. Tariffs above 20% are applied in multiples of 5.Ìý

Tariff-rate quotasÌý

Some products are covered by a tariff-rate quota (TRQ). If there’sÌýa TRQ for your product, you can apply to import a limited amount at a zero or reduced rate of customs duty.Ìý If this limit is exceeded, a higher tariff rate applies. Some tariff-rate quotas are only applicable to products imported from a specified country.Ìý

Tariff-rate quotas under the steel safeguardÌý

The TRQs in place under the safeguard allow for a certain volume of imports for each category of steel subject to the safeguard measure to be imported into the UK tariff-free, with a 25% tariff applied after this limit is reached. The quota covers a 3 month period, so once the tariff-free volume is used up, all future imports for that quarter are subject to a tariff of 25%.Ìý

Applying tariffs: commodity codesÌý

All goods are classified by a commodity code which is usually comprised of 8 to 10 digits. When importing or exporting to a country, goods are declared at the border by commodity code, this helps to ensure the right duty is paid. Different commodity codes may have different duties, which is why it is important that goods are classified correctly.ÌýÌý

The first 6 digits of a commodity code are determined by the Harmonised System (HS) set out by the World Customs Organization (WCO). All members of the WCO must use the HS but then have the option to further define commodity codes at the 7-10-digit level.Ìý

ÌýMelt and pour

Melt and pour refers to the original country where the steel was melted and poured, regardless of any further processing. A steel mill certificate should generally be available with steel imports and provide the end user of details including the product specifications of the steel, the results of any testing, the address of the manufacturer, and may also give information about where the steel product was original melted and poured.