EU Steel Quotas – The Final Jigsaw Piece

Reacting to today’s EU announcement on new steel quotas for UK exporters, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said:  

“Today’s announcement on EU quotas is the final piece of the jigsaw to reveal the new landscape for the UK’s steel producers and users going forward. 

“Confirmation that around two thirds of our steel exports will be tariff-free for five years is a big win given the interdependence of UK and EU supply chains. 

“Annual UK steel exports to the EU are worth over £3bn, which is why the BCC had pushed for negotiations to secure a competitive quota allowance. 

“But it is important to recognise that our producers are now facing a much tougher trading environment than before.  

 “The government is trying to carry out a delicate balancing act to protect both the UK’s steel producers and users from the actions of other global players. 

“But downstream sectors like manufacturing, engineering and construction in the UK are also facing higher steel import costs from tomorrow. 

“Although 60% losses in tariff-free quotas have been cut to 51% in the government’s recently amended plans, many firms will still feel the pain.  

“The UK government must keep the door open to feedback from business on the new arrangements. It must be prepared to pivot further and extend mitigations if businesses need them. 

“We will be speaking to firms in our network to gauge the impact of these revised quotas and tariffs and will be feeding their responses back into government.” 

More detail on the EU quotas arrangements can be found here.