United Kingdom

Certain steel products

Supplement

The following communication, dated and received on 31 December 2025, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of the United Kingdom.

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Pursuant to Article 12 and Article 9.1 and its footnote of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, the United Kingdom notifies that on 31 December 2025, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade (the Secretary of State) accepted the TRA's recommendation to vary the safeguard measure on category 13 steel products (Rebar). The details of this are set out in this notification.

By way of background, on 10 November 2025 the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) initiated a tariff rate quota (TRQ) review relating to the developing country exceptions to the safeguard measure on category 13 steel products as set out in document _G/SG/N/10/GBR/1/Suppl.28.

On 31 December 2025, the Secretary of State accepted the TRA's recommendation to vary the safeguard measure, with effect from 1 January 2026. More details on the Secretary of State's final decision can be found on:

·_        The public notice: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-remedies-notices-tariff-rate-quotas-on-steel-goods/trade-remedies-notice-202526-safeguard-measure-tariff-rate-quota-on-steel-goodss

·_        The Trade Remedies Service Platform: https://www.trade-remedies.service.gov.uk/public/case/TQ0072/#public-file

1.  Provide the precise description of the product(s) involved

2.  Provide precise description of the adjustments

On 10 November 2025, the TRA launched a TRQ review after receiving trade data indicating a potential change in circumstances, specifically that import volumes and shares of the goods under review from Vietnam have changed since the measure was first applied.

The TRA reviewed data from HMRC's 8‑digit Customs Declaration for UK imports of rebar, as well as reviewing the list of WTO developing countries, excluding those with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) based safeguard exceptions. The TRA's review assessed whether there had been a change in circumstances, specifically whether Viet Nam still qualified as a low‑volume exporter and whether other developing countries also breached the 3% threshold. The TRA found that Viet Nam exported 21,184 tonnes of rebar to the UK, representing 5.53% of the total UK rebar imports. This exceeded the 3% threshold, meaning that Viet Nam could no longer qualify for the developing country exception.

In view of these findings, the TRA recommended varying the TRQ, so that imports of the goods subject to review originating in Viet Nam are no longer exempted from the application of the safeguard measure and Vietnamese imports of category 13 steel goods now have access to the residual quota. On 31^st December, the Secretary of State accepted the TRA's recommendation.

Table 1 sets out the TRQs, the quarterly volumes of country and residual TRQ (in tonnes) from 1^st January 2026 to 30^th June 2026.

Table 2 sets out the developing country members of the WTO.

Table 3 sets out the FTA partners with a current safeguard exception.

3.  Provide proposed date or actual date of introduction of the adjustments

The adjustments will enter into effect on 1 January 2026.

ANNEX

Annex 1: Tariff Rate Quotas

Quarterly volumes of country and residual tariff‑rate quota (in tonnes) 01/01/26 – 30/06/26.

Annex 2: Developing country members of the WTO

Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea‑Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Macao, China, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, People's Republic of China, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Christopher (Kitts) and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Annex 3: FTA partners with a current safeguard exception

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