The UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) released a Statement of Essential Facts (SEF) for the interim findings regarding an anti-dumping (AD) investigation on South Korean hot rolled steel plates.

The TRA prefers imposing duties only on plates over 600mm but less than 2500mm in width, rather than the entire scope of products over 600mm.

This preference is due to an Economic Interest Test (EIT). Applying duties to the full range of wide plates would negatively impact downstream UK industries, such as renewable energy and shipbuilding, which depend on these imports due to a lack of domestic production. Conversely, narrow plate production occurs domestically.

Proposed duties range from 7.04% to 22.27% for narrow plates, compared to 5.98% to 24.28% for the complete scope. Interested businesses have until May 21, 2026 to provide public comments.

The investigation initiated on June 6, 2025, covering an injury period of April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2025 and an investigation period of April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.