Steel tariffs: US trade policy under Trump ‘challenging’, Reynolds admits
The US tariff policy under President Donald Trump is proving “challenging” for Britain, the business and trade secretary has admitted.
Jonathan Reynolds is in discussions with his US counterparts over Trump’s new 25 per cent tariff regime on steel and aluminium imports – but has not secured an exemption for the UK.
It comes after Reynolds and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer yesterday both said they were “disappointed” by the move, but stressed there would be no immediate retaliation, with tariffs set to have an impact on UK steel exports worth north of £350m annually – mostly stainless.
Speaking in the House of Commons during business and trade questions on Thursday morning, Reynolds said: “We’ve engaged closely with the US administration, including commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and the US trade representative Jamieson Greer.
“The new trade policy of the US is challenging. We believe our decision to engage and seek potential agreement on a new economic deal between the UK and the US offers us an opportunity to ensure the UK is the best connected market in the world.”
But shadow business and trade secretary Andrew Griffith criticised Reynolds, asking: “How have we got to this point after 35 weeks as trade secretary, 18 weeks since the US election, an entire month since steel and aluminum tariffs were first announced, the Secretary of State is only now going to sit down with the Secretary of Commerce, of our closest ally?”
The Conservative MP and former minister added: “Whilst he has been correcting his CV, steel workers and businesses are hurting today. This is a colossal failure of trade policy on his watch. Why has this taken so long? When can we expect an agreement?”
But hitting back, Reynolds insisted: “The honorable gentleman may have not seen some news recently, but the UK has had the best engagement of any country with the new US administration led by our prime minister, and isn’t it good to see again, a British Prime Minister respected on the world stage, delivering for Britain.
“We’ve had tremendous engagement with the new US administration. I’m looking forward to meeting them in person next week.”
‘No exemptions’
Griffith continued: “Over a million jobs in this country depend on trade with the United States, thousands of jobs in our steel industry. He doesn’t know when he’s going to get a deal.
“Will he publish his red lines for that deal, his objectives and what he hopes to achieve from meetings next week?”
In response, Reynolds stressed: “Let me say on iron, steel and aluminum tariffs, the US position is there’s no exemptions for anybody. That is across the board.
“They recognise, I think, a very strong case that we have, but that is their position.”
And he added: “No, I will not publish my negotiating red lines before a negotiation. That is, quite frankly, the worst advice I’ve ever heard in the House of Commons.
“I’ll also just say the Conservative Party fell out with the EU, it wouldn’t deal with China. It couldn’t do a deal with India, it fell out with the UAE and couldn’t do a deal with the Gulf, it got nothing out of the US.
“It did deals with Australian and New Zealand and then disowned them – we’ll take no lessons from you, please.”
Reynolds ‘any action’
Liberal Democrat trade spokesperson Clive Jones urged the Government to “strike at the political allies of the president”.
He added: “Can the Secretary of State confirm if Elon Musk’s Tesla are being considered as a potential target for retaliatory measures?”
Reynolds replied: “We reserve the right to take any action in response to any changes in our trading relationships.
“But I do think we can look to the opportunity the UK has, which is greater than any other country, to get to an agreement that improves our terms for trade with the US.
“I reserve all rights to take any action, but I think we can look forward in a positive way to improving that trade relationship.”