{"id":486597,"date":"2025-10-09T20:58:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/486597\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T20:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:58:17","slug":"tata-steel-calls-for-level-playing-field-amid-eu-plans-to-slash-imports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/486597\/","title":{"rendered":"Tata Steel calls for \u2018level-playing field\u2019 amid EU plans to slash imports"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Rajesh Nair, chief executive of Tata Steel UK<\/p>\n

Chris Haines,<\/strong> ICNN Senedd reporter<\/p>\n

Tata Steel\u2019s UK boss has warned of a \u201cdifficult\u201d future ahead amid EU plans to slash steel quotas, prompting an urgent call for the UK to create a \u201clevel-playing field\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rajesh Nair, chief executive of Tata Steel UK, urged UK ministers to safeguard the domestic market after the EU announced plans to cut tariff-free steel import quotas by 47%.<\/p>\n

Mr Nair called on the UK Government to design new quota systems in a similar way to the EU to safeguard steel by banishing imports, \u201cto ensure we have a level-playing field\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cYes, 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 \u2018how can we convert this into something that would work for the UK?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Nair warned trade wars and protectionism in steel have become the norm, \u201cso we\u2019ve got to find our own ways of managing the domestic market\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told Senedd members: \u201cThe UK quotas are significantly disproportionate\u2026 these quotas were set up, particularly in flat steel \u2013 in which south Wales is really a significant player \u2013 in 2017\/18 when the demand\u2026 was nearly 30% higher than what it is today.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018We need to bring pace\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe demand has declined, the quotas have remained where they are. The quotas in general\u2026 are 70%\u2026 to up to 140% of the demand in some product categories.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

He said: \u201cThe key thing is the trade situation is becoming more and more difficult, and things are moving pretty fast, so one of the expectations is that we need to bring pace into it\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m reasonably confident\u2026 that the government will also look to do things very similar to what the EU has done\u2026 on one hand to protect the UK domestic market and, on the other hand, to work with the EU to ensure we have the right trading interests between the two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appearing before the Senedd\u2019s economy committee today (October 9), Mr Nair called for clarity on how the EU announcement will work and apply to different categories of products.<\/p>\n

The chief executive said the first intent would be to work with the EU to secure preferential treatment and concessions as one of the bloc\u2019s biggest long-time trading partners.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Great confidence\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Giving evidence just over a year on from the end of traditional steelmaking in Port Talbot, Mr Nair was pleased by progress on transitioning to an electric-arc furnace (EAF).<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI would like to believe we\u2019ve dealt with it in the best possible manner, in the most responsible manner and, one year down the line, I\u2019m happy to see the progress being made, especially on the project in terms of bringing the EAF online by the end of 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Nair said he had \u201cgreat confidence\u201d of hitting the 2027 target to start green steelmaking in south Wales after securing planning approval and breaking ground in July.<\/p>\n

He told the committee that orders have been placed for about \u00a3400m worth of equipment but construction on the ground, which is due to begin in the next few months, will be the key test.<\/p>\n

Chris Jaques, chief HR officer, said Tata Steel UK employs just under 5,900 people, down from about 8,150, confirming 2,255 staff have left the business since the announcement.<\/p>\n

Mr Jaques told the committee compulsory job losses were minimised to about 120 and Tata Steel UK expects to employ about 5,300 people when the EAF is fully commissioned.<\/p>\n

\u2018Very, very volatile\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Nair was asked about the UK Government passing an emergency bill to protect steelmaking by keeping blast furnaces open in Scunthorpe \u2013 but not Port Talbot.<\/p>\n

He said Tata Steel had a viable transition plan but Scunthorpe was a \u201cdifferent story\u201d, confirming no talks took place on including Port Talbot in the rescue legislation.<\/p>\n

As part of its inquiry on the future of steel, the committee also heard from trade unions which warned commitments on future investment have fallen by the wayside.<\/p>\n

Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general-secretary of the Community union, said: \u201cWe\u2019re not where we wanted to be. All of the trade unions thought there was a possibility of a more gradual transition which would have protected jobs and primary steelmaking for longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDiarmid added: \u201cBut the reality is this is where we are: those blast furnaces are not coming back on \u2013 whatever some irresponsible politicians might want to suggest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Hoyles, a senior organiser from the GMB union, told Senedd members: \u201cThere\u2019s obviously a lot of anger at what\u2019s happened but, in one respect, that is done. However, the bigger questions around Port Talbot and British steelmaking remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the announcement in the past few days \u2013 it is a very, very volatile sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

Support our Nation today<\/p>\n

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\n independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by
\n the people of Wales.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rajesh Nair, chief executive of Tata Steel UK Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter Tata Steel\u2019s UK boss has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187],"class_list":{"0":"post-486597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115346219130320074","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}