A government body has recommended the removal of limits inherited from the EU on about half of the UK’s steel imports, in a move that provoked fury from British producers. The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) said on Friday that it would revoke the limits on nine categories of steel product, including some bars and wires, meaning imports will no longer face steep tariffs after quotas are filled. It extended limits for three years on another 10 products, including some steel for railways, gas pipes and large sheets. The EU introduced the limits in 2019 to protect the industry from a glut of steel products diverted from the US after Donald Trump imposed tariffs. The TRA is sponsored by the Department for International Trade, run by Liz Truss. She has to sign off on the authority’s recommendations, but she is expected to accept them. Gareth Stace, the director general the industry lobby group UK Steel, said the decision was a “hammer blow” and “utter madness” that would leave UK producers vulnerable to import surges. “On their first major test in a post-Brexit trading environment, the UK’s new system has failed our domestic steel sector,” he said. The TRA removed the limits on some products because it did not find evidence that the UK was importing them in large quantities, or that increased imports would cause significant damage to the UK steel industry as a whole. One of the preliminary recommendations was reversed after feedback from producers, Reuters reported. The producers, including Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel, which is urgently seeking financing after the collapse of its main lender, successfully argued for continued protections for large welded steel tubes used in offshore wind turbines. The steel industry also argued that the government had failed to take in account the effect on small-scale producers, and that the removal of protections on certain products could undermine the industry as a whole by denting overall volumes. The UK has been examining which EU import protections to retain after its left the EU’s single market on 31 December 2020. Some government figures have said removing trade barriers was a key advantage to leaving the EU. The prospect of competing with the rest of the world has alarmed some industries, however, including steel and farming, which argue that they are unable to compete on a level playing field because of higher regulatory standards and costs in the UK.