Following an investigation that was launched in November 2024, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) recommended to the Government that it should revoke an existing safeguard measure on Category 2 steel products.
Used in the manufacture of parts for the automotive industry and domestic appliances, these products include non-alloy and other alloy cold-rolled sheets of steel. Cold-rolled steel can be found in such consumer products as radiators, steel drums, domestic appliances, racking, shelving and metal furniture.
Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has confirmed that he will accept the TRA recommendation, which is based on a discontinuation review of the safeguard measure following an application from Tata Steel UK (TSUK).
As the sole active domestic producer of Category 2 steel and given that it is no longer involved in Category 2 steel production, the company had reported that it was unlikely to suffer serious injury if the measure was revoked.
The TRA invited other comments on its proposed action and found that these were supportive of the revocation. It noted that, if the safeguard measure continued to apply, it would result either in increased prices for downstream consumers or upstream stockholders.
The Authority has explained that safeguard measures are one of three types of trade remedies that are allowed under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules with the others being: anti-dumping measures which counter goods being “dumped” into countries at prices below their normal price in their country of origin; and countervailing measures against countervailable subsidies.
