The Ministry of Economy confirmed today (25/07/22) that the UK has decided to no longer apply protective tax measures on the import of steel sheets and cold-rolled steel products.
According to the ministry, the British decision was announced on Friday (7/23/22), just four days after the United States International Trade Commission decided to revoke trade defense tariffs that had been charged from cold-rolled steel products from Brazil.
With the safeguards removed, Brazilian steel becomes more commercially competitive.
The UK and the United States are two of the main markets for Brazilian steel products.
Of the approximately US$ 7.3 billion dollars that Brazil exported to the world in 2019, more than US$ 3.4 billion dollars went to the UK and to the United States.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the British authorities were convinced by the argument that the volume of Brazilian exports fell within the parameters of tax exemption authorized by agreements signed within the scope of the World Trade Organization.
About a year ago, all steel sheet and cold-rolled steel product that Brazilian steelmakers sold to the UK above the maximum volume periodically reviewed by the UK authorities was subject to a 25% surcharge.
The United States, on the other hand, will no longer charge additional fees that could reach 46%, being 35% antidumping duty and 11% countervailing measure, on cold-rolled steel products purchased from Brazil.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the US decision applies exclusively to Brazilian products, with the protective measures applied to other countries having been maintained.
On the same day that it revised the conditions for importing steel products from Brazil, the United States International Trade Commission reassessed the protective measures applied to products from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
In a note, the US commission explained that the action is part of the process of reviewing international trade rules, which establish that it must take place every 5 years.
Under these rules, within that period, the United States must revoke any protective or compensatory measures if it is unable to determine that doing so is likely to lead to the continuation or recurrence of the conditions that prompted the same measures.
Sources: investing.com
