Due to what is believed to be a little effect on domestic producers, the UK government has announced the elimination of a countervailing duty of up to 4% on stainless steel bars and rods imported from India.
The UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) said on Thursday that the government had accepted its proposal to repeal the countervailing duty on imports of stainless steel bars and rods from India.
In order to compensate for imports being sold at unjust rates as a result of government subsidies in their nation of origin, countervailing measures are put in place.
They fall under one of the three categories of trade remedies permitted by World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.
The TRA came to the conclusion that even if subsidised imports from India would continue if the countervailing measure were no longer in effect, it is doubtful that the UK industry would suffer as a result.
Trade organisation UK Steel said that there is “very little risk of injury resulting from the removal of the measure” since there is “minimal supply of stainless bars and rods to the UK market by UK producers.”
In terms of volume, India ranked as the third-largest supplier of stainless steel bars and rods to the UK in 2022.
Importers were forced to pay a duty ranging from 0% to 4% as a result of the action.
However, the TRA’s examination found that neither the state of the local and foreign markets nor historical injury statistics indicated that the measure’s revocation would harm UK manufacturers.
Reversing the policy would thus not affect UK manufacturers, according to the TRA, but it would assist to maintain competitively priced imports from India.
Many industries, including the automotive, aerospace, and food processing sectors, require stainless steel bars and rods.
The bars and rods may be further processed into different stainless-steel goods, such precision components, or utilised as a specialised component of a larger product, like a propeller shaft.
The TRA is an independent UK organisation that was created in June 2021 with the mission of determining whether trade remedy measures are necessary to address unfair import practises and unanticipated import surges.
