United Kingdom Extends Safeguard Measures For Worldwide Steel Imports

Nine months ago, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) initiated a review to determine whether to extend safeguard measures the government previously had placed on 15 categories of worldwide steel product imports. On June 27, the government announced the results of that study and said it would extend the measures for an additional two years, until June 30, 2026.

Safeguards are a type of trade remedies measure that is intended to address unexpected surges in imports that are damaging or threatening to damage domestic producers. These particular measures were put in place after the United States implemented its Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs.

During the extension review, the TRA considered evidence from both domestic and international organizations and from industry to determine whether ending the penalties would harm the UK’s steel industry. The secretary of state for business and trade said it also considered wider matters regarding public interest and the UK’s obligations under relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) pacts. The government acknowledged its decision to extend safeguard measures on five product categories is a departure from the UK’s WTO obligations, but said it weighed that issue against evidence that ending the penalties would harm domestic industry and would be contrary to the UK’s public interest.

Read more about this decision here, here, and here.

The UK’s decision came one day after the European Union decided to extend its own steel safeguard measures for two years. Read about that decision here.