Government/Policy
March 17, 2026
UK steel industry anticipates quota reduction and 50% tariff on imports
Written by Kristen DiLandro
The UK will reduce steel import quotas and raise outside caps to 50%, anonymous industry sources told Politico.
The announcement from UK Trade Secretary Peter Kyle is expected during his visit to Tata Steel’s Port Talbot mill on Thursday, Politico reports.
Steel safeguard rules implemented by the UK and EU, as members of the World Trade Organization, expire in June. In October, the EU said that when the rules expire, it will decrease its steel import quotas. Additionally, it intends to implement a 50% tariff on steel exceeding its cap. The UK delayed setting a steel import strategy ahead of the June expiration date.
“The tariff will be doubled to 50% in line with what the Europeans have done, the Canadians have done, the Americans have done,” said a source in Politico’s report. Adding, “there will ‘be some exemptions’ for products British steelmakers don’t make.”
In February, a Tata Steel UK-based executive said they had warned British policymakers of the existential threat facing domestic producers. The executive told lawmakers the UK’s current policies permit cheap steel imports from countries like China, thereby imperiling British producers.
A spokesperson for the British government promised a strategy in the near term, according to Politico.
“This government has been crystal clear in committing to a bright and sustainable future for steelmaking and steel jobs in the UK and we will publish a steel strategy shortly setting out how we can achieve a sustainable future for the sector,” the publication quoted the government official as saying.
