UK should keep anti-dumping measures on Chinese heavy steel: trade agency
- Trade Remedies Authority believes tariffs as high as 73.7 per cent should be kept on steel plates used in shipbuilding, equipment manufacturing
- Tariffs were first put in place in 2016, when UK was a member of the European Union bloc
A United Kingdom trade agency believes the British government should keep in place anti-dumping measures on imported Chinese heavy steel plates and has begun a separate review of tariffs on imported corrosion-resistant steel from China.
In an interim report issued Thursday, the Trade Remedies Authority, which was created following Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), has concluded that heavy alloy and non-alloy steel plates were being dumped in Britain at lower prices than they were being sold in China.
The agency has determined that duties as high as 73.7 per cent should be kept in place until March 1, 2027. The tariffs were first put in place by the EU in 2016 and maintained by British authorities following the UK’s exit from the EU in 2020.
“Our provisional finding is that the UK should retain existing tariffs protecting domestic producers of heavy plate steel, concentrated in Motherwell and Gateshead, from unfair Chinese imports,” Oliver Griffiths, the TRA CEO, said. “The economic analysis has also given weight to the projected negative impacts on the upstream steel supplier if the measures were revoked.”
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Kemi Badenoch, Britain’s Secretary of State for International Trade, will make a decision on whether to retain the tariffs after the TRA issues its final report later this year. A public comment period on the agency’s interim findings runs until March 2.
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The heavy steel plates at issue are used in the manufacture of construction, mining and logging equipment, as well as for oil and gas pipelines, shipbuilding and bridge construction.
Britain imports about 100 tonnes of heavy plate steel from China each year, the TRA said.
At the same time, the TRA said it had undertaken a review of anti-dumping measures on imports of corrosion resistant steel from China.
The steel, which goes through a process to make it rustproof, is primarily used in the construction and automotive industries, ranging from car structures to fencing, according to the TRA
Coated steel, which includes corrosion resistant steel, is seen as a prospective growth area for the British steel industry, with the potential of generating future revenue of nearly £1 billion (US$1.2 billion) annually by 2030, the trade agency said.
The duties on corrosion resistant steel range as high as 27.9 per cent and had been set to expire later this month. The review covers a potential injury period of January 2019 to December 2022.
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The TRA is in the process of reviewing dozens of tariffs put in place on Chinese products whilst Britain was still part of the EU.
The TRA’s review of various anti-dumping measures on Chinese products comes amid heightened scepticism among British politicians about China’s interests and policies amid rising geopolitical tensions.
