The UK government was hoping to balance enhanced support for domestic steelmaking with continued access for downstream processors after announcing new steel trade measures that will take effect from July 1, 2026.
The UK government unveiled late in March a sweeping support package for the country’s steel sector, combining stricter import controls with a long-term industrial strategy intended to raise local steel production.
It would entail reducing overall quota volumes for imports by 60% compared with the existing steel safeguard measures, with any import volumes above these levels facing a 50% tariff.
Although the measures were welcomed by UK steelmakers with melting facilities, the harsher import rules were questioned by traders and downstream processors.
But in an update published on April 2, the UK Department for Business and Trade announced that it intended to allocate an additional specific quota for use in downstream processing.
UK steel output dropped to 2.50 million tonnes per year in 2025, down by 38% year on year, according to the World Steel Association.
And the UK imported 7.15 million tonnes of iron and steel products over the year, according to UK customs data cited by Global Trade Tracker. This was up by 10.9% year on year from 6.45 million tonnes in the previous year.
Downstream challenges
Plans to drive down the volumes of steel imports into the UK were debated widely on social media following the March announcement.
“Such protectionist measures could allow domestic producers to increase prices to sustainable levels while remaining competitive,” Laurence McDougall, owner of All Steels Trading, said on social media in late March.
“Some producers are suggesting that this environment could enable them to increase domestic market share to 50% from approximately 30%, a rise in domestic sales of around 66%,” he said.
“As UK stakeholders, we all want to see our steel industry thrive, particularly where state participation is involved,” he added. “But a key question remains: will end-users be able to absorb significantly higher steel prices while still competing against imported finished goods that are not subject to equivalent duties?”
If this imbalance were not addressed, McDougall said, there would be a risk that domestic steel consumption could fade away unless the government closed such loopholes.
“These measures are nothing but harmful to the UK steel industry as a whole, and the UK economy, more importantly,” Nick Lally, owner of Steel Traders Midlands, said on social media in late March.
“Simply, the UK does not produce enough steel to satisfy the demand. Even if they could, the range of steel produced is not sufficient either,” he said. “Imports need to happen.”
This challenge to traders came at a time of rising freight costs, exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East. Shipping costs from Turkey to the UK have risen by as much as $50 per tonne due to increased risks and higher marine diesel prices, McDougall said.
Category 1 authorization
In its April 2 update, the UK government confirmed that it will continue to allow defined volumes of steel products to enter the UK tariff free through a system of tariff rate quotas, applied on a quarterly basis and allocated on a first come, first served basis.
The measure, named category 1 authorized use products, covers steel products that can be made domestically.
But it also allows tariff free imports up to set limits across 20 product categories, including coated sheet, tin mill products, plates, bars, wire rod, sections, pipes, tubes and hollow sections. Each category is defined by specific commodity codes.
Quota volumes will be split evenly across four quarters: July September, October December, January March and April June. Any unused quota in one quarter will roll over into the next, providing additional flexibility for importers managing irregular purchasing patterns or demand fluctuations. But unused quotas will not carry into the following quota year.
For volumes imported outside the quota, a tariff rate of 50% will apply, calculated on the value of the steel before any other import duties.
Quota reviews
The UK government’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) announced on March 31 decisions on three tariff-rate quota (TRQ) reviews – pertaining to metallic coated sheets, merchant bars and light sections – which have seen a country-specific import quota introduced for Turkish exporters.
In one of the reviews concluded on March 31, three of eight commodity codes were removed from the TRQ in the March 31 decision, with the TRA saying that it found no evidence of UK production during the period of investigation for the goods subject to review in those commodity codes.
Regarding category 4 steel imports into the UK from Turkey, comprising metallic sheets, the TRA stripped Turkey of its Developing Country Exception status, instead choosing to impose a country-specific import quota, saying that imports of metallic sheets from the region in 2025 exceeded 3% of the total imports of that product.
The ruling came despite pleas from contributors to the review including Turkish exporters TatMetal and Tezcan Galvaniz, which said in their submissions that the TRA should assess whether any apparent increase in imports is sustained and structural, and should avoid placing undue weight on short-term spikes or other temporary market factors.
Turkish exporters TatMetal and Borçelik Çelik Sanayi Ticaret both also argued for Turkey to retain its DCE status.
The UK imported 67,848 tonnes of metallic coated sheet from Turkey in 2025, which was 7.09% of total imports, above the 3% threshold needed for an exemption, but approximately 54,000 tonnes of metallic coated sheet was imported in just the final quarter of 2025, according to HMRC Country of Origin import data.
Imports from developing countries are given exceptions to TRQs if the goods imported make up less than 3% of the total imports of that product and if, collectively, these low-volume exporters account for no more than 9% of the total imports of that product.
The consequences of all three TRQ reviews were to come into effect on April 1, the TRA announced.
