With effect from 1 October 2024, the Government has accepted a recommendation by the Trades Remedies Authority (TRA) to vary the tariff rate quota (TRQ) on imports of Category 1 steel products.
In response to applications from Tata Steel UK (TSUK) and Kromat Trading Ltd, and following TSUK’s statement of its intention to shut down the blast furnaces in Port Talbot, the TRA initiated reviews of these imports in February this year.
As a result of the reduction in domestic production of Category 1 steel, the TRA proposed that the steel safeguard measure be varied by duplicating Category 1 to form Categories 1A and 1B.
This means that the quota for Category 1A, which will be accessible by parties looking to import the products for commercial applications, will be retained at current levels while the quota for Category 1B, which would be accessible solely for downstream processing, will be set 132% higher than that of 1A.
Taking Category 1A and Category 1B together, the total Category 1 quota will be approximately 3.3 million tonnes per year, the TRA confirmed.
The Category 1B quota will also be allocated on a global basis to allow companies to establish reliable supply chains for domestic processing, it explained, together with a cap of 40% to ensure no single country’s exports dominate this new quota.
Full details of the TRA recommendation can be found HERE.
