Keir Starmer has said that he will ‘keep all options on the table’ in response to Donald Trump’s decision to impose global tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium imports.
The industry body UK Steel says it is a “sledgehammer” which could threaten steel exports from Britain, worth around 400 million pounds a year
Trump’s trade war has expanded globally overnight, with 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US coming into force.
Industry Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that it was disappointing the US has imposed global tariffs on steel and aluminium.
“We are focussed on a pragmatic approach and are rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement to eliminate additional tariffs for the benefit of UK businesses and our economy”
UK Steel director general Gareth Stace calls for the government to “negotiate a full exemption” from US tariffs to protect against foreign steel coming to “swamp our market very, very quickly”.
Welsh Secretary Peter Hughes said:
There’s procurement policies which need to be put in place, which say every build we are going to do is using UK steel. It’s not just about tariffs, it’s about protecting the steel industry in the UK.”
