Trump Spares UK Steel from 50% Tariffs in Last-Minute Reprieve
Britain’s steel industry has narrowly avoided steep US tariffs after Donald Trump issued a late exemption in an executive order signed last night.
The former US president confirmed he would double tariffs on global steel and aluminium imports to 50% starting Wednesday. However, in a surprise move, the UK was explicitly excluded from the sweeping trade measure.
Despite the exemption, the executive order warns that the tariffs could still be imposed if the UK is deemed not to be complying with the terms of its trade agreement with the US.
The move appears to be part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to pressure key trading partners into finalising deals with Washington. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, had sent letters to multiple nations urging them to submit their best trade proposals by Thursday.
Concerns had been mounting within the UK steel sector over fears it would be caught in the crossfire, as implementation of a US-UK trade agreement announced on May 8 has stalled. The deal, which promises to eliminate tariffs on steel exports, remains in limbo after four weeks of negotiations. UK steel exports to the US are still subject to the 25% tariff originally imposed by Trump in March.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said discussions remain “ongoing” and reaffirmed that the agreement, once enacted, would remove most tariffs on UK steel and aluminium exports to the US. “That agreement is committed to removing tariffs on steel and aluminium to save jobs and help the UK industry,” he said.
UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds met Jamieson Greer in Paris on Tuesday in an attempt to accelerate progress. According to UK officials, both sides expressed a “shared desire” to implement the Economic Prosperity Deal swiftly, including agreements on sector-specific tariffs.
However, transparency over the deal remains an issue. When asked why British MPs have yet to see the draft agreement, Leavitt responded: “There’s most definitely text with this deal. There is language that this side has seen. You’ll have to ask the UK Parliament why they haven’t seen it from their own government.”
When the deal was first unveiled, the UK Government claimed it would remove tariffs entirely for steel producers exporting to the US. A government spokesperson reiterated yesterday that officials are “engaging intensively with the US to implement the economic prosperity deal agreed on May 8 at pace.”
Separately, British Steel’s Chinese owner has reportedly engaged law firm Linklaters and consultants PwC to prepare for a legal battle with the UK Government over its plans to assume operational control of the struggling company.
