This week I have announced that we will be extending our safeguards on steel for an additional 2 years; meaning we will have safeguards on all 15 categories of steel imported into the UK until June 2024.
With the aftershocks of the gravest pandemic in a lifetime, the biggest war in Europe since 1945, and a spike in energy costs, the global steel markets are facing persistent overcapacity. As such, this Government is doing everything is can to protect our great British steel industries during these turbulent time.
Safeguards are designed to give businesses time to adjust to unforeseen increases in imports, which we are now seeing. They do this by adding tax to steel imports once a certain quota has been reached. Steelmaking is a key industry here in the UK, employing over 30,000 people, with an annual turnover of £2bn annually. As such, it is essential that we protect it.
Although these measures do break our obligations to specific WTO agreements, the Government has a duty to use its democratic mandate to the greatest possible effect to protect the interests of the British people. On balance, we have therefore decided that it is in the vital public interest that the Government act to protect the steel sector.
On top of these measures, we have also announced that we will be suspending all safeguard measures on Ukrainian steel imports for another 2 years. This will help bolster the long-term security of the Ukrainian economy against Putin’s illegal and unprovoked war.