10 hours ago
Trump's tariffs will cost UK steel industry £150m
US trade tariffs have dealt a £150 million blow to the UK steel industry as a wave of cheap products driven from American shores are being dumped in Britain, senior industry figures warn.
The UK risks being hit harder than other countries in the tariff chaos despite having negotiated a deal with Donald Trump on exports of steel to the US.
This, steel bosses say, is because the UK does not have 'the right defences' to prevent countries such as China from flooding our market with cheap steel that would have been sold to the US.
That will drive down prices and crowd out domestic British steelmakers.
By contrast, EU countries have erected barriers to protect their steel industries.
Trade body UK Steel said imports were 'flooding on to the UK market depressing prices' as a result of the US tariffs, which last week rose to 50 per cent for steel and aluminium from a previous rate of 25 per cent. The UK managed to avoid the higher levy after securing a last-minute exemption.
But Russell Codling, commercial director at Tata Steel, told MPs urgent measures were needed to protect UK industry.
He said steel prices in the UK were tanking below those in Europe following the US tariffs – a price difference 'leading to something like a £100 million- £150 million-a-year loss in the UK compared with Europe.'
The UK industry is already struggling to remain profitable due to high energy costs and environmental taxes, which are heavier than those on EU manufacturers.
Codling added that the UK market for foreign steel imports was 'far more free-flowing than into mainland Europe'.
The latest crisis comes hard on the heels of Government intervention to prevent the country's last blast furnaces at the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, from being closed by Chinese owners Jingye in April. Codling, whose firm employs 8,000 people, said the UK needed to bring in measures to shield producers against cheap imports that 'are as least as good as our trading partners around the world.'
A 25 per cent levy will still apply until the Government finalises a proposed trade deal with the US which should see tariffs cut to zero.
Steel exports from Britain to the US are worth £400 million a year, making it the sector's second-biggest market.
But UK bosses fear the Trump administration could alter the terms of any deal before it is signed. Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel, said the Government needed to take 'decisive action' to protect producers. He added: 'The EU has stepped up its trade defences, and now we must do the same.' Respected industrialist Andrew Cook warned that the dumping of cheap steel would cause 'great damage'. He said: 'China built 600 million tons of surplus steel-making capacity to dump on foreign markets. This is the main reason why Britain's steel industry has suffered so badly.'
Currently, the UK sets a quota for steel imports allowed into the country tariff-free. Imports above that level incur a 25 per cent levy. But UK Steel says the quotas do not offer 'adequate protection'. The UK's Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), which monitors unfair practices, is reviewing whether the measures, which are based on EU controls from 2018, suffice.
Industry minister Sarah Jones insisted the Government – which is set to unveil its £2.5 billion steel strategy later this year – is backing the industry 'to the hilt'. She said: 'The TRA has been working at pace to identify stronger measures to defend the industry.'
Rajesh Nair, head of Tata Steel UK, urged Ministers to ensure the US doesn't require British exports to have been 'melted and poured' in the UK to be tariff-exempt.
This process now only happens at British Steel's Scunthorpe blast furnaces. Tata, which closed its UK blast furnace last year, is having to import steel until electric arc furnace steelmaking starts in Port Talbot in late 2027, Nair said.
