British steel chiefs resist change to import rules

British steel producers are fighting a government trade body recommendation to end protections inherited from the European Union that safeguard against cheap foreign imports into the United Kingdom.

Politicians and steel industry leaders have voiced anger at the harm that proposed free-trade policies and consequent cheap imports would do to steel-producing areas in the country.

The Labour Party, and some Conservative Party members of Parliament who hold so-called "red wall" seats where Labour policies are favored, will debate the contentious issue in the House of Commons on Monday, and will vote to kill off the plans, The Guardian reported.

The Trade Remedies Authority, or TRA, advised the government last week to end safeguards on nine out of 19 product categories, a proposal that sparked outrage among leaders in the sector, the Daily Mirror first reported.

The protections were introduced in 2018, when the UK was still a member of the EU and followed its trade rules, and were implemented in retaliation against US tariffs on steel imports, put in place under the Donald Trump administration.

The measures dictated by the EU were carried on in the UK until January, when the Brexit transition ended.

Steel chiefs have warned that the latest proposals would jeopardize the future of more than 32,000 workers in the sector and thousands more in supply chains.

Quoted in The Guardian, Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel, which represents the industry, said: "The TRA's decision to terminate steel safeguards for half of the product categories exposes the UK's steel sector to uncontrolled surges in imports and is a hammer blow."

He added: "The UK government is squandering the opportunity to make Brexit work for domestic industry and is letting an arm's length body harm the British steel sector, not support it. We want to work with the government to level up Britain; instead they are levelling down our steel sector."

The government is facing growing criticism of its pursuit of free-trade arrangements after Brexit. Last week, British farmers expressed dismay over a free-trade deal with Australia.

Labour MP and shadow business secretary Ed Miliband, said the UK steel industry had described the proposal as "madness" and that the government "must listen".

Quoted in The Guardian, he said: "If the government slashes import protection, it risks opening the floodgates to cheap steel imports, undercutting British steel.

"We should be using every tool at our disposal to support our steel industry yet the government is pursuing the opposite course. This is the opposite of what the government promised they would do after Brexit."

Last week, a government spokesperson was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying: "All interested parties, including importers, domestic producers and overseas exporters, have been able to participate in the review to provide evidence to factor into the TRA's assessment.

"The trade secretary's decision will be published before the measure is due to expire on 30 June."