Tata calls for 'level playing field' amid EU plans

TATA Steel’s UK boss has warned of a “difficult” future ahead amid EU plans to slash tariff-free steel import quotas, prompting an urgent call for the UK to create a “level playing field”.

- CHRIS HAINES

Rajesh Nair, chief executive of Tata Steel UK, urged UK ministers to safeguard the domestic market after the EU announced plans to impose 50% tariffs on steel, double the current level of 25%, while cutting tariff-free import volumes to 18.3 million tons a year - a 47% reduction.

Wales’ economy secretary Rebecca Evans has already warned of “drastic consequences” for the future of Welsh steelmaking and pledged to do “everything we can” to influence UK-EU talks over the plans to cut the amount of tariff-free steel than can be imported into the bloc by nearly half.

Mr Nair yesterday called on the UK Government to design new quota systems in a similar way to the EU to safeguard steel by banishing imports, “to ensure we have a level playing field”.

He said: “Yes, you could look at it as an existential crisis or you could look at it as an opportunity to make a difference and I think the conversations that are happening today are ‘How can we convert this into something that would work for the UK?”

Mr Nair warned trade wars and protectionism in steel have become the norm, “so we've got to find our own ways of managing the domestic market”.

He told Senedd members: “The UK quotas are significantly disproportionate... these quotas were set up, particularly in flat steel in which South Wales is really a significant player in 2017/18 when the demand... was nearly 30% higher than what it is today.

“The demand has declined, the quotas have remained where they are. The quotas in general... are 70%... to up to 140% of the demand in some product categories.”

Mr Nair contrasted this with EU quotas of between 15% and 30% of demand before the latest announcement which will see levels reduce further.