Tariffs were levied for more than 5 years
The Brazilian Ministry of Economy confirmed today (25) that the United Kingdom has decided to no longer apply protective tariff measures on the importation of steel plates and cold-rolled steel products.
According to the ministry, the British decision was announced on Friday (23), just four days after the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) decided to repeal the antidumping tariffs that had been levied on cold-rolled steel products from Brazil for more than five years.
Read also: Report accuses Brazil of ignoring forest destruction in Amazonia
Once the safeguards are eliminated, Brazilian steel becomes more commercially competitive. The United Kingdom and the United States are two of the main markets for Brazilian steel products. Of the approximately $7.3 billion that Brazil exported to the world in 2019, more than $3.4 billion was destined for the United Kingdom and 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 World Trade Organization (WTO).
About a year ago, all steel plate and cold rolled steel products that Brazilian steel mills sold to the UK above the maximum volume periodically reviewed by the British authorities were subject to a 25 percent surcharge.
Also read: Detained in Brazil with seven kilos of cocaine while boarding a plane for Paris, with a stopover in Lisbon
The United States, meanwhile, will stop charging additional duties that could reach 46 percent (35 percent anti-dumping duty and 11 percent countervailing measure) on cold-rolled steel products purchased from Brazil. According to the Ministry of Economy, the US decision applies exclusively to Brazilian products, while the protective measures applied to other countries have been maintained.
Review
On the same day it revised the conditions for the importation of 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 North American commission explained that the action is part of the review process that international trade rules establish that must occur every 5 years. By these rules, in this period, the United States must revoke any protective or countervailing measures if it cannot determine that doing so is likely to lead to the continuation or recurrence of the conditions that motivated the same measures.
