Jobs could be at risk in the beleaguered British steel industry after Donald Trump slapped a 25% tax on US imports.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the global tariffs on steel and aluminium imports were “disappointing” but the UK was not retaliating – unlike the European Union which immediately responded with countermeasures on US goods.
Ministers insisted they were taking a pragmatic approach and avoiding knee-jerk reactions after last-ditch efforts to persuade the US president to grant an exemption for the UK failed.
The Government said around 5% of UK steel exports and 6% of aluminium exports by volume go to the US, although trade bodies for both industries claim that is an underestimate of the scale of shipments across the Atlantic.
The move is the latest blow to a steel industry which has seen thousands of job losses in recent years due to issues including global competition, high energy costs and the shift to cleaner technologies.
The tariffs came into effect at 4am GMT, and raise a flat duty on steel and aluminium entering America to 25%.
Mr Reynolds said: “It’s disappointing the US has today imposed global tariffs on steel and aluminium.
“We are focused on a pragmatic approach and are rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the US to eliminate additional tariffs and to benefit UK businesses and our economy.”
Brussels said countermeasures to the tariffs, which would affect around 26 billion euros (around £22 billion) of EU exports, will be introduced in April “to defend European interests”.
The targeted measures include not only steel and aluminium but motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, with tariffs also hitting products which are important in key Republican-leaning states.
The US is the steel industry’s second largest export market behind the European Union.
Trade body UK Steel said that in 2024 the UK exported 180,000 tonnes of semi-finished and finished steel to the US, worth £370 million, some 7% of the UK’s total steel exports by volume and 9% by value.
Exports include specialised steel used by the US navy on its submarines, with the Government arguing that the tariffs will push up costs for American taxpayers, in an attempt to persuade Mr Trump to change course.
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