Britain’s beleaguered steel industry is facing another blow after Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on global steel and aluminium imports were due to take effect overnight.
Government officials have unsuccessfully been pursuing a carve-out for Britain. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds spoke to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday.
But those efforts appear at least for now to have failed to bear fruit, even after President Trump’s amicable meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington, which raised hopes of a trade deal.
It is a fresh blow for a sector hammered by high energy costs and a flood of cheap Chinese imports, resulting in thousands of job cuts as well as hundreds of millions in government subsidies in an attempt to salvage part of the industry.
Reynolds is likely to make a statement about the tariffs today. But Britain is seen as unlikely to pursue retaliation in the same way that other countries have, amid a reluctance to ratchet up trade tensions even further.
Gareth Stace, director general of trade body UK Steel, said: ‘These tariffs couldn’t come at a worse time for the UK steel industry.’
The UK steel sector has been hammered by high energy costs and a flood of cheap Chinese imports – now it faces another blow from Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs
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