DIT update on steel safeguard measures

Posted on 06 Oct 2020 by Brick Court

Fergus Randolph QC and Sarah Lee QC

On 30 September 2020, the Department for International Trade [“DIT”] published an update to its guidance on the UK’s trade remedies Brexit transition policy, concerning steel safeguard measures. 

As noted in the guidance, the UK has committed to maintaining EU safeguard measures after the end of the transition period, where there is a UK interest in doing so.  It will be recalled that safeguard measures temporarily restrict imports of specified goods to help relevant domestic industries adapt to new or temporary market conditions.  Safeguard measures may be applied where there has been an unforeseen surge in imports which has caused or is causing serious injury to the relevant domestic industry.

The Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate [“TRID”] conducted a transition review in relation to various EU steel safeguard measures to determine whether it would be appropriate to retain them after the end of the transition period.  It identified 19 product categories covered by the EU’s existing measures where UK production existed.  It therefore determined that the measures in question should “be transitioned in order to provide continuity to UK producers.”  The remaining 7 product categories covered by the EU’s existing measures did not have a requisite UK interest because there was no UK production of the products and accordingly tariff rate quotas [“TRQs”] on those products will cease as of 23:00 (London time) 31 December 2020.  A table with the different product categories and their treatment is set out below.

Product category number	Steel Product Categories subject to EU Safeguard Measures	Subject to UK Safeguard Measures?
1	Non-Alloy and Other Alloy Hot Rolled Sheets and Strips	Maintain
2	Non-Alloy and Other Alloy Cold Rolled Sheets	Maintain
3A	Electrical Sheets (other than GOES)	Terminate
3B	Electrical Sheets (other than GOES)	Terminate
4A	Metallic Coated Sheets	Maintain
4B	Metallic Coated Sheets	Maintain
5	Organic Coated Sheets	Maintain
6	Tin Mill products	Maintain
7	Non-Alloy and Other Alloy Quarto Plates	Maintain
8	Stainless Hot Rolled Sheets and Strips	Terminate
9	Stainless Cold Rolled Sheets and Strips	Terminate
10	Stainless Hot Rolled Quarto Plates	Terminate
12	Non-Alloy and Other Alloy Merchant Bars and Light Sections	Maintain
13	Rebars	Maintain
14	Stainless Bars and Light Sections	Maintain
15	Stainless Wire Rod	Maintain
16	Non-Alloy and Other Alloy Wire Rod	Maintain
17	Angles, Shapes and Sections of Iron or Non Alloy Steel	Maintain
18	Sheet Piling	Terminate
19	Railway Material	Maintain
20	Gas pipes	Maintain
21	Hollow sections	Maintain
22	Seamless Stainless Tubes and Pipes	Terminate
24	Other Seamless Tubes	Terminate
25A	Large welded tubes	Maintain
25B	Large welded tubes	Maintain
26	Other Welded Pipes	Maintain
27	Non-Alloy and other alloy cold finished bars	Maintain
28	Non-Alloy Wire	Maintain

Insofar as concerns the 19 product categories for which the safeguard measures are to be retained, the DIT collected historic trade flow data between the period 2015-2017 in order to be able to re-calculate the relevant TRQs.  Those recalculated TRQs are set out below:

Quarterly Volume of Country and Residual Tariff-Rate Quotas

Product Category Number	Product Category	Area/Country	Year 3
			From: 1/1/2021 To: 31/3/2021 (tonnes)	From: 1/4/2021 To: 30/6/2021 (tonnes)
1	Non Alloy and Other Alloy Hot Rolled Sheets and Strips	EU	147,130	148,765
		Turkey	23,602	23,864
		Other Countries	46,033	46,544
2	Non Alloy and Other Alloy Cold Rolled Sheets	EU	69,037	69,804
		South Korea	9,392	9,496
		India	7,052	7,131
		Other Countries	25,994	26,283
4A	Metallic Coated Sheets	EU	153,111	154,812
		South Korea	11,475	11,603
		Other Countries	58,957	59,612
4B	Metallic Coated Sheets	EU	166,037	167,882
		China	30,355	30,693
		South Korea	13,761	13,914
		Other Countries	32,261	32,620
5	Organic Coated Sheets	EU	31,093	31,439
		Other Countries	1,063	1,075
6	Tin Mill products	EU	32,390	32,750
		China	3,842	3,885
		Other Countries	4,219	4,266
7	Non Alloy and Other Alloy Quarto Plates	EU	60,522	61,195
		Ukraine	7,810	7,896
		Other Countries	15,527	15,700
12	Non Alloy and Other Alloy Merchant Bars and Light	EU	48,392	48,930
		Turkey	11,278	11,403
		Other Countries	8,237	8,329
13	Rebars	EU	42,268	42,737
		Turkey	16,297	16,478
		Ukraine	11,274	11,399
		Belarus	8,249	8,341
		Other Countries	38,147	38,571
14	Stainless Bars and Light Sections	EU	11,675	11,805
		Other Countries	2,444	2,471
15	Stainless Wire Rod	EU	233	235
		Taiwan	59	60
		USA	35	35
		South Korea	26	27
		Other Countries	18	18
16	Non Alloy and Other Alloy Wire Rod	EU	63,925	64,635
		Other Countries	4,060	4,105
17	Angles, Shapes and Sections of Iron or Non Alloy Steel	EU	142,599	144,183
		Other Countries	21,136	21,370
19	Railway Material	EU	1,331	1,346
		Other Countries	430	434
20	Gas pipes	Turkey	13,527	13,678
		EU	6,686	6,760
		India	3,984	4,028
		Other Countries	1,481	1,498
21	Hollow sections	Turkey	32,387	32,746
		EU	10,966	11,088
		Other Countries	1,898	1,919
25A	Large Welded Tubes	Other Countries	15,722	15,897
25B	Large Welded Tubes	EU	17,022	17,211
		Japan	1,471	1,487
		South Korea	2,283	2,309
		Turkey	1,653	1,671
		Other Countries	1,850	1,871
26	Other Welded Pipes	EU	19,729	19,948
		UAE	11,720	11,850
		Turkey	7,767	7,853
		Norway	5,973	6,039
		China	5,002	5,058
		Other Countries	6,466	6,538
27	Non-Alloy and other alloy cold finished bars	EU	7,144	7,223
		Turkey	1,371	1,387
		Russia	714	722
		Other Countries	611	618
28	Non Alloy Wire	EU	24,773	25,048
		Turkey	4,336	4,384
		China	2,918	2,950
		Thailand	2,578	2,606
		Other Countries	1,900	1,921

Developing countries listed in the DIT review are not subject to these TRQs, except in relation to certain products produced in Brazil, China, India, Saudia Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE and Vietnam.

For each of the product categories concerned, a part of each tariff rate quota will be allocated to the countries and territories specified.  The remaining part of each tariff rate quota, shall be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, based on a tariff rate quota established equally for each quarter of the period of application.  The drawings on each quarterly quota shall be stopped on the twentieth working day of the month following the end of the quarterly period. At the end of each quarter, the unused balances of the tariff rate quota shall automatically be transferred to the next quarter. No unused balance at the end of the last quarter of each year of application of the definitive tariff rate quota shall be transferred.  Where the relevant quota is exhausted for a specific country, imports from that country can access the residual tariff-rate quota for the same product category. This provision shall only apply during the last quarter of each year of application of the definitive tariff-rate quota.

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