The UK’s TRA proposes to extend anti-dumping duties on HFP rebar from China
Steel NewsDate: 30-06-2023 by: Ngoc Cam
On March 1, 2023, the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority announced the extension of anti-dumping measures on High Fatigue Performance Steel Concrete Reinforcement Bars (HFP) imported from China. This makes domestic businesses concerned about the disruption of the supply of good-priced steel.
1. The UK: Applying anti-dumping duty on rebar imported from China
HFP rebar, also known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a major material in the construction industry with a high bearing capacity to reinforce steel structures. The use of HFP Rebar in construction has brought a value of more than £108 billion to the UK economy.
During the period from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, the UK imported 3,600 tons of rebar from China. In the long run, the government was worried about dumping that could cause the domestic steel industry to suffer significantly because of cheap supply.
Therefore, the European Commission imposed anti-dumping duties on HFP bar steel under the HS code 72 14 20 00 10, 72 28 30 20 10, 72 28 30 41 10, 72 28 30 49 10, 72 28 30 61 10, 72 28 30 69 10, 72 28 30 70 10 and 72 28 30 89 10 imported from China. Those trade remedy measures were in effect from July 2016 to the end of July 29, 2021, without needing to be reviewed.
2. The UK: Proposal to extend trade remedies with rebar imported from China
The UK's Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) proposed to continue to extend the anti-dumping duty at 18.4-22.5% for HFP rebar imported from China. Faced with the tense war situation of Russia-Ukraine, the British government is also concerned about negative impacts on the steel industry and causing a shortage of rebar. Therefore, continuing to extend trade remedies with this product might affect the general economic interests of the country.
However, after reviewing the feedback from stakeholders and new economic forecasts, TRA found that steel imports from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus could be substituted from other countries such as Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. Therefore, the extension of anti-dumping duty did not disrupt the domestic steel supply. The relevant parties had requested until the end of October 14, 2022, before the Ministry of International Trade made a final decision.
3. The UK: Continue to extend anti-dumping measures with rebar imported from China
On March 1, 2023, the United Kingdom officially extended anti-dumping measures on construction rebar (HFP) imported from China. This decision was made after the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) conducted a review of the petitions to cancel the trade remedy measures applied since 2016.
According to Minister for Business and Trade - Nigel Huddleston, protecting domestic steel producers from unfair competition is a top priority for the government. Thus, the anti-dumping duty on Chinese rebar will be in effect until the end of July 2026.
4. The UK: Vietnam's important steel export market
According to WTO statistics, by the end of June 2022, the UK has investigated a total of 04 trade remedies and applied 1 measure (transitional safeguard mechanism with steel products).
According to the EU – UK Withdrawal Agreement, from January 1, 2021, the UK is no longer a member of the EU, and safeguard measures on steel products are carried out independently between the EU and the UK. After this event, both the UK and the EU conducted a review and updated the trade protectionism being applied.
For Vietnam, the UK is currently only applying safeguard measures for steel products. In March 2022, The Trade Remedies Authority initiated an investigation and review of safeguard measures with steel products. In June 2022, they issued a final report, according to which Vietnam applied a separate tariff rate quota on a quarterly basis and a residual tariff quota for some steel products from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024.
Thanks to the UKVFTA Free Trade Agreements, Vietnamese businesses have an edge over many other countries. According to data from Vietnam Customs, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the UK will reach nearly 6.84 billion USD in 2022, up 3.4% compared to 2021. Exports will reach 6.07 billion USD, up 5.2%, exports of iron and steel of all kinds to the UK reached 155.7 million USD, and products from iron and steel reached 63.3 million USD.
Hopefully, the information about the UK's extension of anti-dumping duty on Chinese steel will help you update more about the world's steel market situation. Don't forget to follow and read the latest news about the steel industry in Vietnam and the world at MRS Steel!
