The UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended that country-specific caps be imposed on certain categories of steel following its safeguard tariff-rate quota (TRQ) review, Kallanish learns from a UK government press release.
Following the review launched in March, the TRA has now published its statement of intended final determination.
This proposes that country-specific caps should be imposed on the residual quota in the following categories:
- Category 4 (metallic coated sheet): 40%
- Category 7 (non-alloy and other alloy quarto plate): 40%
- Category 13 (rebar): 40%
In Category 4, imports in the residual quota come almost exclusively from Vietnam and Republic of Korea, accounting for 62% and 38% respectively. It notes that although Korea’s import share in Category 7 in the period of investigation (POI) was 80%, only 52% of the overall residual quota was utilised. In Category 13, imports in the residual quota come almost exclusively from Algeria and Egypt at 86% and 14% respectively.
It recommends these caps because there is a risk of other countries being crowded out and not being able to access the residual quota in these categories, the TRA says.
It does not propose country-specific caps for category 5, 16 and 21.
The caps will come into effect from 1 October to allow steel importers time to adjust.
However, where residual quotas have been exhausted in the POI, they will now benefit from the planned 3% increase from 1 July.
It also does not intend to recommend a reduction in the TRQs, a reduction in the liberalisation rate, or a further increase in the quotas for individual categories.
The TRA has also proposed further changes to the allocation of the TRQs; this includes the removal of the carry-over facility, where unused quotas are made available in the following quarter. This was because in the vast majority of quota allocations, utilisation rates were considerably under 100%, quarter by quarter. While countries with a country-specific quota should no longer have access to the residual quota in the final quarter.
Carrie Bone UK
