British Steel braces for fresh Trump tariff blow
The British steel industry is gearing up for the hammer blow of fresh US tariffs after Downing Street could not confirm that steelmakers would be exempt from the levies.
The UK government unveiled a trade deal with the US last month, under which metal exports would be exempted from punitive tariffs.
But negotiations on the final terms of the deal have yet to be concluded, sparking concern British steelmakers will now be subject to the new 50 per cent import taxes on aluminium and steel unveiled by Donald Trump last week, which are due to come into force on Wednesday.
UK Steel Director General, Gareth Stace, said: “President Trump has taken a sledgehammer to free trade with huge ramifications for the steel sector in the UK and across the world. This will not only hinder UK exports to the US, but it will also have hugely distortive effects on international trade flows, adding further import pressure to our own market.”
‘Making things worse’
Chrysa Glystra, an economist at UK Steel, said the industry’s expectation was that the 50 per cent tariffs would apply until trade talks with the US were finalised.
She said: “You would assume we are in a better place than other countries because we have a deal in principle with the US, but in some ways it is actually making things worse because customers are anticipating there will soon be zero tariffs soon and so are not placing those orders with steel producers before that happens.
“Putting the tariffs up to 50pc will just end up being prohibitive. You are probably just going to see a complete pause in orders until further notice.”
A government spokesperson said it was engaging with the US on the implications of the latest tariff announcement to provide clarity to the industry.
The UK exported 165,000 tonnes of steel to the US in 2023, worth a combined £388m, according to figures from UK Steel.