NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 12
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9.1, FOOTNOTE 2
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS
United Kingdom
Certain steel products
Supplement
The
following communication, dated and received on 25 September 2024, is being
circulated at the request of the delegation of the United Kingdom.
_______________
Pursuant to Articles 12 and 9.1 and its
footnote of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, the United Kingdom notifies
that the Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted the Trade Remedies
Authority's (TRA) final determination and recommendation to adjust the tariff
rate quota (TRQ) applying to imports of product category 1, non-alloy and other
alloy hot-rolled sheet and strip, under the safeguard measure on certain steel
products, with effect from 1 October 2024.
By way of background, on 9 February
2024, the TRA initiated a TRQ review following applications from industry which
indicated a change in circumstances and market conditions, as set out in
document _G/SG/N/10/GBR/1/Suppl.15.
On 9 August 2024, the TRA published its
Statement of Intended Final Determination (SIFD), in which it proposed
adjusting the quota amount and allocations, as set out in document _G/SG/N/10/GBR/1/Suppl.18-G/SG/N/11/GBR/1/Suppl.18. This was open to
comment from interested parties until 19 August 2024.
The TRA considered further submissions
in response to the SIFD and made its final determination and recommendation to
the Secretary of State accordingly, as outlined below.
More details on the TRQ review,
including the TRA's Final Determination[1], can be found on the Trade Remedies Service platform at: https://www.trade-remedies.service.gov.uk/public/case/TQ0052/#public-file.
The suspension review of category 1
also announced on 9 February 2024 and notified in document _G/SG/N/10/GBR/1/Suppl.15 is ongoing separately. Details of this
review can be found on the Trade Remedies Service platform at: https://www.trade-remedies.service.gov.uk/public/case/SS0051/#public-file
The UK
welcomes bilateral engagement with Members on the matter. We invite interested
Members to reach out to the UK Mission in the first instance.
1._
Provide the
precise description of the product(s) involved
The goods subject to
this TRQ review are:
|
Product Number
|
Product Category
|
Commodity Codes
|
|
1
|
Non‑alloy
and other alloy hot‑rolled sheets and strips
|
72081000, 72082500,
72082600, 72082700, 72083600, 72083700, 72083800, 72083900, 72084000,
72085210, 72085299, 72085310, 72085390, 72085400, 72111300, 72111400,
72111900, 72126000, 72251910, 72253010, 72253030, 72253090, 72254015,
72254090, 72261910, 72269120, 72269191, 72269199
|
2._
Provide precise description of the adjustments
The TRA established that there has been a change in circumstances
relevant to the application of the safeguard TRQ with respect to category 1 as
a result of changes at Tata Steel UK's site in Port Talbot. The TRA found
evidence that there has been a change in demand for the import of category 1
steel products used for downstream processing into other steel products. The TRA found that the quota, specifically the
residual quota, has been repeatedly exhausted across four consecutive quarters,
which has had an adverse impact on UK importers, stockists and distributors.
The TRA recommended that the Secretary of State should vary the category
1 TRQ by amending the existing category 1 quota to form categories 1A and 1B,
varying the quota allocation for category 1B to create a global quota for
downstream processing with a cap on exports from any single country of 40%, and
increasing the quota amount for category 1B by 132%. The category 1A quotas
would maintain existing amounts and allocations. This was the TRA's preferred
recommendation.
The TRA also offered a possible alternative option to duplicate the
existing category 1 quotas exactly as outlined above, but without a cap on
exports from any single country.
The Secretary of State accepted the TRA's preferred recommendation.
For further information on the change in circumstances, please consult
Section C: Assessment in the TRA's Final Determination.
The quota amounts and allocations can be found in the Annex.
3._
Provide proposed date or actual date of introduction of
the adjustments
The adjustments enter into effect on 1
October 2024 (at the start of quarter 2 of the quota management year).
Annex
Quota amount and allocation for 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025:
Quarter 1:
1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024
Quarter 2:
1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024
Quarter 3:
1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025
Quarter 4: 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2025
Quota amount and allocation for 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026:
Quarter 1:
1 July 2025 to 30 September 2025
Quarter 2:
1 October 2025 to 31 December 2025
Quarter 3:
1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026
Quarter 4: 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026
Category 1 Quota (ending 30 September
2024):
Table 1: Quota
amount and allocation for 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025:
|
Country
|
Q1 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q2 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q3 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q4 quota
(in tonnes)
|
|
EU
|
187,484
|
187,484
|
183,409
|
185,446
|
|
Türkiye
|
24,616
|
24,616
|
24,081
|
24,349
|
|
Chinese Taipei
|
13,704
|
13,704
|
13,407
|
13,556
|
|
Residual
|
23,587
|
23,587
|
23,074
|
23,331
|
|
Total
|
249,391
|
249,391
|
243,971
|
246,682
|
Table 2: Quota amount and allocation for 1 July 2025
to 30 June 2026:
|
Country
|
Q1 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q2 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q3 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q4 quota
(in tonnes)
|
|
EU
|
193,109
|
193,109
|
188,911
|
191,010
|
|
Türkiye
|
25,355
|
25,355
|
24,804
|
25,079
|
|
Chinese Taipei
|
14,116
|
14,116
|
13,809
|
13,962
|
|
Residual
|
24,295
|
24,295
|
23,766
|
24,030
|
|
Total
|
256,875
|
256,875
|
251,290
|
254,081
|
Adjusted Category 1A
Table 3: Quota
amount and allocation for 1 October 2024 – 30 June 2026:
|
Country
|
Q2 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q3 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q4 quota
(in tonnes)
|
|
EU
|
187,484
|
183,409
|
185,446
|
|
Türkiye
|
24,616
|
24,081
|
24,349
|
|
Chinese Taipei
|
13,704
|
13,407
|
13,556
|
|
Residual
|
23,587
|
23,074
|
23,331
|
|
Total
|
249,391
|
243,971
|
246,682
|
Table 4: Quota amount and allocation for 1 July 2025
– 30 June 2026:
|
Country
|
Q1 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q2 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q3 quota
(in tonnes)
|
Q4 quota
(in tonnes)
|
|
EU
|
193,109
|
193,109
|
188,911
|
191,010
|
|
Türkiye
|
25,355
|
25,355
|
24,804
|
25,079
|
|
Chinese Taipei
|
14,116
|
14,116
|
13,809
|
13,962
|
|
Residual
|
24,295
|
24,295
|
23,766
|
24,030
|
|
Total
|
256,875
|
256,875
|
251,290
|
254,081
|
Adjusted Category 1B:
Table 5: Quota amount and allocation
for 1 October 2024 – 30 June 2025:
|
Country
|
Q2 1 October–31 December
(in tonnes)
|
Q3 1 January-31 March
(in tonnes)
|
Q4 1 April-
30 June
(in tonnes)
|
|
40% cap
(Maximum quota amount sourced from any individual country/territory,
before incurring safeguard duty)
|
231,435
|
226,405
|
228,921
|
|
Total
|
578,587
|
566,013
|
572,302
|
Table 6: Quota amount and allocation for 1 July 2025
– 30 June 2026:
|
Country
|
Q1 1 July-
30 September
(in tonnes)
|
Q2 1 October-
31 December
(in tonnes)
|
Q3 1 January-
31 March
(in tonnes)
|
Q4 1 April-
30 June
(in tonnes)
|
|
40% cap
(Maximum quota amount sourced from any individual country/territory,
before incurring safeguard duty)
|
238,380
|
238,380
|
233,197
|
235,787
|
|
Total
|
595,950
|
595,950
|
582,993
|
589,468
|
Downstream processing
Table 7. Steel products and UK Global Tariff commodity
codes used for the purposes of defining 'downstream processing'
|
Steel Product
|
Commodity Codes
|
|
Non Alloy and Other Alloy Cold Rolled
Sheets
|
72091500, 72091690,
72091790, 72091891, 72092500, 72092690, 72092790, 72092890, 72099020,
72099080, 72112320, 72112330, 72112380, 72112900, 72119020, 72119080,
72255020, 72255080, 72262000, 72269200
|
|
Metallic Coated Sheet
|
72102000, 72104100,
72104900, 72106100, 7210690020, 7210690080, 72109080, 72122000, 72123000,
72125020, 72125030, 72125040, 72125061, 72125069, 72125090, 72259100,
72259200, 72259900, 72269910, 72269930, 72269970
|
|
Organic Coated Sheets
|
72107080, 72124080
|
|
Tin Mill Products
|
72091899, 72105000,
72121090, 72101100, 72107010, 72124020, 72101220, 72109040, 72101280,
72121010
|
|
Gas Pipes
|
73063041, 73063040,
73063072, 73063077
|
|
Hollow Sections
|
73066110, 73066192,
73066199
|
|
Other Seamless Tubes
|
73041910, 73041930,
73041990, 73042300, 73042910, 73042930, 73042990, 73043120, 73043180,
73045181, 73045189, 73049000, 73043950, 73043982, 73043983, 73043988, 73045982,
73045983, 73045989
|
|
Large Welded Tubes
|
73051100, 73051200,
73051900, 73052000, 73053100, 73053900, 73059000
|
|
Other Welded Pipes
|
73061100, 73061900,
73062100, 73062900, 73063012, 73063018, 73063080, 73064020, 73064080,
73065021, 73065029, 73065080, 73066910, 73066990, 73069000
|
__________
[1] The TRA's Final Determination is also
available from the WTO Secretariat. To consult it, please contact
Ms Anne Richards of the Rules Division (anne.richards@wto.org).