The UK Department for Business & Trade has announced changes to the soon-to-be introduced tariff rate quotas on steel imports, Kallanish learns.
The time-limited transitional arrangement means that relevant goods under contract before 14 March will be fully exempt from 50% out-of-quota duty between 1 July and 30 September. The new steel tariffs will not apply to goods imported into the UK between the above-mentioned dates or imported in satisfaction of an obligation under a contract entered into before 14 March. For the latter part of the arrangement, this includes goods released to the UK market from a customs warehouse between the same dates.
The department adds that goods that make use of this transitional exemption will not count towards quota allocations for the first quarter. To access this, traders must hold verifiable evidence demonstrating that the consignment was ordered before the cut-off date.
One trader expresses concerns that some market participants could try to circumvent the rules with faked documents in a bid to avoid the duties. However, for those who do not break the rules, there are indirect benefits as this would free up some quota availability and potentially reduce their duty burden by up to £400,000 ($537,956) across its vessels.
The trader expresses annoyance over this rule being announced just 27 days before implementation but acknowledges this will apply only for one quarter, limiting the impact.
An HM Revenue & Customs spokesperson tells Kallanish: “We take customs compliance very seriously and have robust processes in place to tackle fraud. Traders must retain supporting evidence for their declarations and provide it when requested.”
This comes as calls have grown for revisions to be made to the proposed changes over concerns on availability and price. Additionally, the new trade measure will not apply to steel goods originating in Ukraine. The UK government says this reflects the country’s “continued support in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion”.
Instead, existing preferential tariff arrangements for UK-Ukraine trade in steel will remain in place, as set out in the Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement with Ukraine.
