Provisional tariff rate quota levels for the UK’s replacement of its steel safeguard system, seen by McCloskey 20 March, propose massive cuts to UK steel import accessibility from 1 July, reducing total quota volumes by around 60% and doubling the tariff rate to 50%.
The UK government published its Steel Strategy on 19 March, pledging to cut steel tariff quota levels “substantially” for implementation on 1 July, when the existing safeguard lapses.
The officially published Strategy document does not detail the proposed TRQ cuts beyond the stated goal of increasing the market share for domestic steelmakers to 40-50%, up from 2024 levels cited at around 30%, but a confidential document titled “Steel Trade Measure – Further Industry Detail” circulated to stakeholders by the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) alongside the Steel Strategy offers insight into the government’s provisional breakdown of steel quota allocations.
As illustrated in the above graph, and the product category table appendices below, the cuts to steel quota levels are far beyond industry expectations, especially on category 1 hot-rolled steel. Despite the lack of reference to Product Category 1B in the confidential document – which currently allows material to enter the UK duty-free where it is to be used for downstream processing – sources tell McCloskey that this carve-out will very likely be sustained in the UK’s new quota framework, at least until Tata Steel UK’s new electric arc furnace at Port Talbot is operational. Tata Steel UK currently imports HRC from their affilitated operations in India and the Netherlands, following the closure of the blast furnace at Port Talbot in 2024.
Overall, the current proposal would reduce total steel import quota volumes in the UK by around 60% across all product categories, with some categories, such as “12B: Non-alloy merchant bars and light sections,” hit by reductions as high as 97%. Other product categories like “4: Metallic coated sheets” have comparatively lesser reductions (39%).
Market participants have highlighted references in the UK Steel Strategy to private investment as a core stimulus for the revitalisation of the UK’s domestic steelmaking, and have drawn comparisons between the level of quota reductions and potential portfolios of domestic steelmakers like Speciality Steel UK, which the government is supporting financially through its administration process to facilitate future sale of the assets to new buyers.
As stated in the confidential document, quotas will still roll over between quarters “to smooth trade flows across the year,” with volumes allocated on a “first come first served basis.” The new quota year will begin on 1 July, with subsequent quarters confirmed to start on 1 October; 1 January; and 1 April.
The new trade measure proposal also extends steel tariff protections to four new product categories: category 14 – “stainless bars and light sections”; category 15 – “stainless wire rod”; category 27 – “non-alloy and other alloy cold finished bars”; and category 28 – “non-alloy wire”.
Detailed below, it is important to remember that the presented quota levels are “provisional and subject to change,” and have not yet been officially released by the UK government.
Category 1 – Non-alloy and other alloy hot-rolled sheets and strips
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 744565 | EU | 68226 | -91 |
| Turkey | 97760 | India | 12405 | |
| Taiwan, China | 54426 | South Korea | 3258 | |
| Residual | 93673 | Residual | 18452 | -80 |
| Total | 990424 | Total | 102341 | -90 |
| Global quota *1B (40% cap) | 2297785 | N/A | N/A |
Category 4 – Metallic coated sheets
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 1286045 | EU | 634773 | -51 |
| India | 98199 | India | 125796 | +28 |
| Taiwan, China | 132960 | South Korea | 100753 | |
| Vietnam | 174367 | |||
| Residual (15% cap) | 339590 | Residual | 100116 | -71 |
| Total | 1856794 | Total | 1135805 | -39 |
Category 5 – Organic Coated Sheets
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 145538 | EU | 29836 | -79 |
| South Korea | 59142 | South Korea | 19694 | -67 |
| Residual | 8840 | Residual | 5993 | -32 |
| Total | 213520 | Total | 55523 | -74 |
Category 6 – Tin mill products
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 126900 | EU | 4740 | -96 |
| China | 32218 | Japan | 74 | |
| South Korea | 9987 | South Korea | 596 | -94 |
| Taiwan, China | 10522 | |||
| Residual | 4305 | Residual | 6385 | +48 |
| Total | 183932 | Total | 11795 | -94 |
Category 7 – Non-alloy and other alloy quarto plates
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 282391 | EU | 200868 | -29 |
| South Korea | 33795 | |||
| USA | 766 | |||
| Residual (20% cap) | 100776 | Residual | 14415 | -86 |
| Total | 383167 | Total | 249844 | -35 |
Category 12A – Alloy merchant bars and light sections
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 117107 | EU | 83558 | -29 |
| Residual | 16845 | Residual | 9082 | -46 |
| Total | 133952 | Total | 92640 | -31 |
Category 12B – Non-alloy merchant bars and light sections
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 140677 | EU | 4454 | -97 |
| Turkey | 52949 | Turkey | 1788 | -97 |
| Residual | 30090 | Residual | 468 | -98 |
| Total | 223716 | Total | 6710 | -97 |
Category 13 – Rebars
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 295656 | EU | 149024 | -50 |
| Turkey | 140067 | Turkey | 50582 | -64 |
| Residual | 95364 | Residual | 68374 | -28 |
| Total | 531087 | Total | 267980 | -50 |
Category 14 – Stainless Bars and Light Sections
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| N/A | N/A | EU | 11,532 | |
| USA | 1,782 | |||
| Residual | 2,360 | |||
| Total | 15,674 |
Category 15 – Stainless Wire Rod
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| N/A | N/A | EU | 570 | |
| South Korea | 135 | |||
| Residual | 237 | |||
| Total | 942 |
Category 16 – Non-alloy and other alloy wire rod
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 297,636 | EU | 168,471 | -43 |
| Residual | 12,994 | Residual | 10,504 | -19 |
| Total | 310,630 | Total | 178,975 | -42 |
Category 17 – Angles, shapes, and sections of iron or non-alloy steel
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 677,693 | EU | 106,106 | -84 |
| South Korea | 3,002 | |||
| USA | 852 | |||
| Residual | 70,432 | Residual | 13,230 | -81 |
| Total | 748,125 | Total | 123,190 | -84 |
Category 19 – Railway material
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 19,032 | EU | 7,254 | -62 |
| Residual | 559 | Residual | 46 | -92 |
| Total | 19,591 | Total | 7,300 | -63 |
Category 20 – Gas pipes
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 28,085 | EU | 15,792 | -44 |
| India | 14,441 | India | 8,777 | -39 |
| Turkey | 62,400 | Turkey | 29,917 | -52 |
| Residual | 2,936 | Residual | 5,008 | +71 |
| Total | 107,862 | Total | 59,494 | -45 |
Category 21 – Hollow sections
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 44,959 | EU | 15,792 | -65 |
| Turkey | 148,124 | Turkey | 29,917 | -80 |
| India | 8,777 | |||
| Residual | 13,667 | Residual | 5,008 | -63 |
| Total | 206,750 | Total | 59,494 | -71 |
Category 25A – Large welded tubes
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 25,125 | EU | 7,067 | -72 |
| South Korea | 5,018 | South Korea | 659 | -87 |
| Japan | 32,835 | Japan | 413 | -99 |
| USA | 495 | |||
| Residual | 8,856 | Residual | 1,538 | -82 |
| Total | 71,834 | Total | 10,172 | -86 |
Category 25B – Large welded tubes
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 64,629 | EU | 25,219 | -61 |
| Japan | 8,138 | Japan | 267 | -97 |
| South Korea | 18,575 | South Korea | 3,493 | -81 |
| Turkey | 5,110 | |||
| Residual | 19,592 | Residual | 3,202 | -84 |
| Total | 110,934 | Total | 37,291 | -66 |
Category 26 – Other welded tubes
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| EU | 90,535 | EU | 19,666 | -78 |
| Turkey | 44,197 | Turkey | 9,597 | -78 |
| UAE | 60,841 | UAE | 7,114 | -88 |
| China | 23,250 | USA | 3,649 | |
| Switzerland | 721 | |||
| Residual | 40,142 | Residual | 10,809 | -73 |
Category 27 – Non-alloy and other alloy cold finished bars
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| N/A | N/A | EU | 14,442 | |
| Turkey | 3,916 | |||
| Residual | 3,172 | |||
| Total | 21,530 |
Category 28 – Non-alloy wire
| Previous Quota Holders | Previous Quota Levels (t) | New Quota Holders | New Quota Levels (t) | % Change |
| N/A | N/A | EU | 47,859 | |
| Japan | 415 | |||
| USA | 6,076 | |||
| Residual | 25,875 |
