How much tariff-free steel quota is left?

Three ways. Use the live table on this page — filter or search for “rebar” or “category 13” and you get the remaining tonnage for every country of origin on that category, read from HMRC's UK Trade Tariff API every morning after HMRC's daily update, with no account needed. Or go to the UK Integrated Online Trade Tariff yourself, open the quota search and enter the quota order number for the origin you are importing from — category 13 rebar order numbers are listed in full on this page. Or, if you need a figure you can rely on for an imminent customs declaration, email HMRC's tariff quota management team at tariff.management@hmrc.gov.uk.

The UK steel trade measure runs on quota order numbers in the 058600–058671 range, one per category-and-origin combination — 72 lines across 20 steel categories. The UK Trade Tariff quota tool asks for that order number rather than a product description, which is the step most buyers get stuck on. The full category-to-order-number table is published on this page.

Delayed. Balances shown on the public tariff reflect customs declarations that have already been processed, and that processing typically runs at least two working days behind the goods actually arriving. On a category burning quickly, the published figure can therefore overstate what is genuinely still available. Treat any public balance — including the one on this page, which reads the same HMRC data — as a supply-risk signal rather than a guarantee of allocation. Only HMRC can confirm a binding position for a specific declaration.

No. This tracker is free and requires no account, no login and no personal data to browse. An email address is only needed if you want an alert when a category you buy crosses a threshold. The GOV.UK tariff tool is also free and open.

Under the UK steel trade measure in force from 1 July 2026, imports above the quota pay a 50% tariff on the value of the goods. Quotas are allocated quarterly on a first-come, first-served basis by HMRC; once a line is exhausted, further imports from that origin pay the tariff until the next quarterly allocation. Exhaustion is not always final, though: HMRC returns tonnage when earlier customs claims are amended or withdrawn, so an exhausted line can re-open mid-quarter — three lines have come back this way since August 2026, one of them by more than 15 percentage points. This tracker's live balances pick up any re-opening automatically.

HMRC publishes updated quota balances once a day, typically early in the morning UK time. This tracker reads all 72 quota lines from HMRC's UK Trade Tariff API every morning after that update and again in the afternoon, and shows the time of the last read at the top of the page. If that copy is ever more than a day and a half old, the page reads the balances from HMRC directly instead.

20 categories of steel goods, including hot-rolled sheet, metallic and organic coated sheet, tin mill products, quarto plates, merchant bars, rebar, stainless bars and wire rod, angles and sections, railway material, gas pipes, hollow sections, welded tubes, cold finished bars and non-alloy wire. Aluminium, brass, titanium, nickel alloys, cast iron, stainless sheet, cold-rolled sheet and seamless tubes are not covered.

Not automatically. The 50% tariff applies only to imports above quota from covered origins. UK-produced steel, in-quota imports and existing stock are not directly affected, and suppliers price on many other factors. Quota status is a supply-risk signal, not a price forecast.

No, not any more. The transitional exemption ended on 30 September 2026. It covered steel goods imported to meet an obligation under a contract concluded before 14 March 2026, and imported into the UK between 1 July and 30 September 2026: those were exempt from the 50% out-of-quota duty and did not count against the quota. From 1 October 2026 such goods are treated like any other import — they count against the quota, and the 50% duty applies once it is exhausted. HMRC can still ask for evidence on exemption claims made during the window; see the GOV.UK implementation notifications on the UK steel trade measure.

No. Steel goods originating in Ukraine are excluded from the measure — they are subject to neither the quota nor the 50% out-of-quota duty. Preferential tariff rates under the UK–Ukraine Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement apply instead, provided the goods meet its preferential rules of origin. Ukraine therefore does not appear as an origin among the quota lines on this tracker.

It carries over. Unused quota, whether country-specific or residual, is added to the following quarter of the same quota year on the 20th working day after the quarter ends: 28 October 2026 for unused Q1 volume (1 July to 30 September 2026). Volumes can accumulate from one quarter to the next, but anything still unused on 30 June 2027 lapses, and the Category 1 authorised-use quota does not carry over at all. Until a carry-over lands, this tracker shows the tonnage waiting on each quota line, updated each working day from HMRC's figures for the closed quarter, and marks exhausted lines that are due to reopen.

For a short time, yes. After quarters 1 to 3, claims against the closed quarter's quota are accepted up to the end of the 19th working day of the following month (27 October 2026 for Q1). Every such claim reduces the unused balance, so the amount that carries over on the next working day keeps falling until then, and a figure frozen on the last day of the quarter overstates it: the unused Q1 total across all 72 quota lines fell from about 220,000 tonnes on 30 September 2026 to about 207,700 tonnes by 8 October as HMRC processed remaining and late claims. After quarter 4 nothing carries over, but HMRC says any remaining balance can still be claimed for up to three years after the goods were imported.

HMRC designates a quota as critical when it gives notice that 90% of its quarterly volume has been allocated. From then on a claim may be refused, so importers have to provide security for the full amount of duty when they claim, for example through a general guarantee account. On this tracker, quota lines that are more than 90% used are labelled Critical.

Yes, both are separate from it. The UK's existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on steel continue to apply to goods imported within the tariff-free quota, and they are added to the 50% out-of-quota duty once a quota is exhausted. The UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) applies from 1 January 2027, alongside the steel trade measure and any trade remedy duties. Check all three for your commodity code and country of origin before you price a shipment.

With a straight-line estimate. It divides the tonnage used so far this quarter by the days elapsed and projects that daily rate forward; if the remaining balance would run out before the quarter ends, the line shows an estimated date. Where unused quota from the previous quarter is due to be added before that date, the forecast includes it. The ×pace figure compares the share of quota used with the share of the quarter that has passed. These are estimates from past usage, not guarantees: quota is often used in large steps as cargoes clear customs.

The UK steel trade measure. The steel safeguard quotas and their 25% out-of-quota duty expired after 30 June 2026. Since 1 July 2026 the new measure has applied tariff-rate quotas to 20 categories of steel at around half the previous volumes, with a 50% duty on imports above quota. Quotas are split by country of origin, allocated quarterly by HMRC on a first-come, first-served basis and identified by quota order number. This tracker shows the live balance on all 72 quota lines.