Policy paper

Strategic steer to the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA)

Published 11 December 2025

1. Introduction

The government’s primary mission is economic growth. Through the publication of our Trade, Industrial, and Small Business Strategies, we have set a roadmap for achieving this in an increasingly challenging global trade environment.

The trade remedies system supports this mission by protecting the UK from unfair international trading practices.

Yet our trade remedies system, created before globalisation came under today’s protectionist threat, now needs to be sharper to meet the demands of a new geopolitical reality. We need a more effective system that supports growth and creates the conditions for businesses to thrive.

This government is committed to protecting businesses from unfair trade, levelling the playing field for UK producers, and acting boldly to ensure our trade remedies system remains fit for purpose. This means we need to go further to ensure producers of all sizes can engage easily and constructively with the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), and to take swift and decisive action to spot and effectively address injury wherever it happens.

This steer sets out how the government expects the TRA to deliver on the Trade Strategy. The steer applies to all aspects of the TRA’s activity^{[footnote 1]}, including how it engages with those affected by its work, to meet the Trade Strategy’s 3 strategic outcomes of a trade remedies system that is more:

• accessible to UK producers
• assertive and agile in tackling unfair trade
• accountable to government

2. The strategic context

The TRA’s operating environment has changed significantly since its inception in 2021. Globalisation has slowed, and consensus on the benefits of free trade has fractured. Tariffs, subsidies, and other restrictions are increasingly common. Issues such as global overcapacity, trade diversion, and the circumvention of trade remedy measures have become more pressing, undermining the competitiveness of British industry.

The TRA must monitor these geopolitical and trade developments closely and adapt its operations accordingly to maintain the confidence of businesses across the economy, and trust among international partners.

The government will ensure the TRA has the powers and resources it needs to respond effectively. When parliamentary time allows, we will strengthen the TRA’s legislative framework and update statutory guidance to support delivery of its 3 strategic outcomes, as well as ensuring these are reflected in the setting of TRA’s objectives and management information reporting.

3. An accessible trade remedies system

UK producers of all sizes should find it straightforward to participate in trade remedy investigations. These investigations protect industry from dumped or unfairly subsidised imports, and unforeseen import surges. No business should feel excluded because of its size. The government expects to see increased participation and reduced barriers to entry, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a demonstrable trajectory of improvement over time.

We welcome the launch of an expanded and improved Trade Remedies Advisory Service and we expect the TRA to implement further initiatives to deliver on this outcome, including to:

• continue raising awareness and providing education on the trade remedies system with manufacturing sectors
• build a larger public evidence base that producers and manufacturers can rely on to pursue faster and higher-quality applications, such as reports on import trends, market distortions and unfair subsidies
• provide proactive support throughout the lifecycle of a case, including demystifying the investigatory process and technical jargon as needed, with targeted support for SMEs
• continue to simplify the processes and forms used to gather evidence from producers and manufacturers at all stages
• ensure clear guidance and information products are publicly available
• continue to work with manufacturing industries, particularly SMEs, to understand the barriers they face and tailor interventions to their needs
• draw from best practices from other remedies authorities around the world

4. Assertive and agile protection

As the diversity and number of unfair trading practices grow globally, the trade remedies system must be more assertive and agile to protect our producer base and provide a stable and predictable environment that supports investment and growth in the UK. As part of its reforms, the government will bring its approach to the ‘Lesser Duty Rule’ into line with comparable authorities, providing the discretion to recommend options for higher duties under certain circumstances.

The government expects the TRA to:

• take action to tackle the circumvention of existing trade remedy measures
• monitor trade data and emerging global trade issues, engaging with peer authorities to share best practice
• publish regular outputs of this monitoring to support new casework
• identify abnormal trade patterns, distortive impacts and economic risks that could be relevant to new trade remedy cases
• work with producers and manufacturers on the ground and with government to proactively leverage sector intelligence to spot risks of injurious import surges or dumped or unfairly subsidized imports, and target its outreach and interventions

Trade remedy investigations should be conducted transparently, swiftly and accessibly for those involved. Injury should not be exacerbated by excessive investigation timelines. We welcome the TRA’s work to drive down timings to provisional measures since action announced in April 2025. Timely remedies and streamlined operations remain a priority for this government. With that in mind:

• we expect the TRA to progress cases in a timely manner in accordance with the relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements, which require that anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations shall be concluded within one year, and in no more than 18 months under special circumstances
• the TRA should continue to innovate and accelerate the pace of investigations end-to-end, trialling streamlined processes with industry, while maintaining investigative rigour
• we expect to see the TRA make improvements to case timelines and resource use on cases to improve value for money and reduce uncertainty for businesses

5. Accountability

The government values a TRA that investigates independently of government, in line with its WTO commitments, putting transparent evidence-based recommendations to ministers for decisions. Equally, major decisions that affect the country and the public should be taken by those elected by the country to do so, ensuring appropriate accountability in the system, and the ability to weigh the wider public interest.

The government will therefore update its legislation to provide the Secretary of State with an ex-officio power, as exists in comparable jurisdictions, to direct the TRA to initiate an investigation should the evidence justify it, and the wider WTO requirements be met.

This government expects the TRA to:

• account for this steer in its upcoming corporate plan
• clearly demonstrate how it is delivering against the priorities set out in this steer, and to work with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on an updated set of key performance indicators (KPIs)
• provide progress updates detailing its performance as part of a regular reporting cycle
• continue working effectively with DBT, including, when appropriate, exchange of market data and intelligence that might be helpful to the work of the department
• strive for continuous improvement of its performance, capability and culture in line with this steer

1. The TRA operates in line with the Trade Act 2021, the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, and relevant regulations. In performing its functions, the TRA must have regard to guidance published by the Secretary of State under paragraph 34 of Schedule 4 of the Trade Act 2021. This steer should be read in line with this statutory framework and guidance. ↩