Market Segment
May 22, 2026
Tata Steel UK tariff carve-out to continue
Written by Laura Miller
Through a tariff carve-out, Tata Steel UK is able to send steel products melted in the Netherlands to the US at the UK’s reduced 25% Section 232 tariff rate.
The Trump administration approved the reduced rate for the United Kingdom last year. Steel and aluminum imports from the EU, meanwhile, remain subject to the full 50% S232 tariff.
Since June 2025, via the carve-out, steel rolled and finished at Tata Steel UK’s operations in Wales, produced from steel melted and poured at its mill in the Netherlands, has also been eligible for the reduced 25% rate.
An April 29 notice in the Federal Register clarified that this carve-out will continue, noting an HTSUS code of 9903.82.04 for such imports into the US. Customs and Border Protection issued its own guidance on the clarification on May 6.
Since the closure of its last blast furnace in Wales in 2024, Tata no longer melts steel in the United Kingdom. Using steel melted at its 7-million-ton Ijmuiden mill in the Netherlands, as well as its mills in India, the company produces finished flat-rolled products in the UK. The company is building an electric-arc furnace at its Port Talbot works in Wales, which is expected to be operational in 2027.
Tata Steel UK could not be reached for comment as of press time.
US import figures
In the first three months of this year, the US imported 23,142 metric tons of flat-rolled steel from the UK. More than half was cold-rolled sheet, followed by tin plate and tin-free steel. Imports were down 9.6% from a year earlier.
