UK Trade with EU: Iron and Steel
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the trade agreement with the EU of 19 May 2025, what (a) tariffs and (b) rules will apply to steel exports to the EU.
Answered by Mr Douglas Alexander
The EU applies a safeguard measure on imports of 26 categories of steel in the form of tariff-rate quotas that allow certain volumes of imports per category to enter duty-free. A 25% duty is charged on volumes that exceed quotas.
Following a recent amendment by the EU, the UK’s duty-free access to category 17 (steel sections) was restricted to below traditional volumes.
As part of the new agreement, the EU committed to correcting this in line with traditional trade flows, which will allow UK industry to double the amount of tariff-free steel sections they can export to the EU.
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