The U.K. government has announced the removal of an up to 4% countervailing tariff on stainless steel bars and rods imported from India due to a perceived low impact on local suppliers.
The U.K.'s Trade Remedies Authority said on Thursday that its recommendation that the countervailing measure on imports of stainless steel bars and rods from India be revoked has been agreed by the government.
Countervailing measures are put in place to offset imports being sold at unfair prices due to government subsidies in their country of origin.
They are one of three types of trade remedies that are allowed under World Trade Organisation rules.
The TRA concluded that although subsidised imports would continue from India if the countervailing measure were no longer applied, it is unlikely that the U.K. industry would be injured if the measure was no longer in place.
Trade association U.K. Steel said there is "minimal supply to the U.K. market of stainless bars and rods by U.K. producers and therefore a very low risk of injury resulting from the removal of the measure."
According to official statistics, in 2022, India will account for the U.K.'s third-biggest source of stainless steel bars and rods in tonnage.
The measure meant that importers were required to pay a tariff of 0 to 4%.
However, the TRA's investigation found that neither domestic and international market conditions nor historic injury data suggested that injury to UK producers would occur if the measure were revoked.
"Therefore, while the TRA concluded U.K. producers would not be harmed by revoking the measure, doing so would help to ensure competitively priced imports from India continue," the TRA said.
Stainless steel bars and rods are used across various industries, including the automotive, aerospace, and food processing industries.
The bars and rods can either be used as a specific component in a larger product, for example, as a propeller shaft, or they can be further worked into other stainless-steel products, for example, precision components.
The TRA is an independent U.K. body established in June 2021 to investigate whether trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practises and unforeseen surges of imports.
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