Written Question: HS2 and Steel Tariffs

Lord Moylan: To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of the steel yet to be procured for HS2 falls within product categories affected by the recent changes to steel import tariff rate quotas.

Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, CBE):

An initial assessment of the Government’s Steel Strategy, including the changes to tariff rates on imported steel taking effect from July 2026, suggests that there will not be a significant impact on HS2 as the planned volumes of imported steel fall below the current quota requirement thresholds.

Whilst we do not have the percentage of steel that would be affected by the changes to import tariffs, estimates indicate that if the tariff had been in place last year, imports of Rebar across the programme would have accounted for 11.8% of the allocated annual national steel rebar quota. This figure drops to around 3% for other steel categories. HS2 Ltd expects these figures to lower this year.