Steel importers in the United Kingdom expressed outrage over the sudden application of tough new trade protection measures in a conversation with researchers from the European Parliament this month.
Data on steel prices in the UK published in the July issue of the European Steel Review from the European Parliament were more stable than in other European countries after the changes announced on June 30 were put into effect on July 1. The weaker downward pressure on UK prices may be partly explained by concerns about higher duties that will be levied on many low-cost imported goods.
Most importers from the UK expected that restrictions of 40% would be applied to the use of quarterly quotas by individual countries by product categories. 4 (metal-coated sheet), category 7 (non-alloy and other alloy quarto sheets) and category 13 (rebar). This was the recommendation of the Office for the Protection of Trade Rights (TRA). However, after the intervention of the country's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, a 15 percent limit was introduced for rolls and sheets, and a 20 percent limit for rolled products and rebars
In addition, the volume according to which tariff quotas for each of the UK's 14 product categories were to be liberalized from July 1 was reduced from 3% to 0.1%. The changes also prevent unused quarterly quotas from being used in the next quarter. WTO members with a country quota will be denied access to the remaining quota in the last quarter of the protection year (from April 1 to June 30, 2026).
The impact of new restrictions on quotas
Despite the fact that prices remained stable in July, exceeding the four-year lows recorded in the fourth quarter of last year by only 20 pounds per ton, British stockbrokers expect that new import restrictions will lead to higher prices for galvanized steel. The 15% quota cap gives South Korea and Vietnam access to duty-free quotas of 50,938 tons each for the next 12 months. In 2024, 131,097 tons of galvanized coil from South Korea and 183,848 tons of materials from Vietnam were imported to the UK.
The impact of the 20% limit will be less pronounced. Import companies that do not have country-specific quotas will retain access to a duty-free quota of 20,155 tons for the next 12 months. Only 37,392 tons of South Korean imports exceeded this level in 2024. The TRA anti-dumping investigation into South Korean rolled steel may have a greater impact on reducing the impact of this material.
Fittings of Algerian origin are likely to be affected by a 20% restriction on this product.
