Iron and Steel: Import Duties

(asked on 15th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that a 20 per cent World Trade Organization tariff could have on the UK steel industry, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.


Answered by
Lord Henley Portrait
Lord Henley
This question was answered on 29th May 2019

There is no World Trade Organisation tariff on steel – each country sets its own tariff levels as part of being a member of the WTO. The European Union’s most favoured nation (MFN) tariffs for steel, which apply to all third country WTO members without a preferential arrangement, are either zero or very low, and will remain so. In a no deal scenario UK exports to the EU will face the same tariff situation as they currently do, as the EU’s MFN tariffs for most steel products faced by third countries are already bound at zero – meaning that there would be no tariff impact on UK steel exports to the EU. The EU currently also apply safeguard tariffs (at 25%) on steel imports from most third country trade partners, where they fall outside the current tariff rate quotas, to protect the EU steel sector from unforeseen surges in imports. It will be for the EU to decide how these safeguards should apply to the UK in the event of a no-deal exit.

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