The European Union has announced plans to match Donald Trump's steel tariffs, doubling import levies to 50%, a move condemned as an existential threat to the UK steel industry. With 80% of British steel exports going to the EU, the change represents the biggest crisis the sector has ever faced, according to industry body UK Steel.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that ministers and officials are in discussions with the EU over the proposals. Speaking to reporters on a flight to India, he said the government was in talks with both the EU and the US, but declined to provide further details. Industry minister Chris McDonald described protecting trade flows between the UK and EU as vital and said he would meet industry leaders on Thursday.
The European Commission's plan, presented to the European parliament on Tuesday, also proposes slashing duty-free import quotas and requiring foreign suppliers to declare where steel was melted and poured, to prevent Chinese products entering via third countries. EU officials said the rules would serve as a stepping stone in negotiations with the US by demonstrating a common stance against Chinese steel dumping.
Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, called on the government to urgently implement its own defensive measures, warning that millions of tonnes of steel diverted from US and EU markets could be terminal for many remaining UK steel companies. Unions echoed the alarm, with Community's Alasdair McDiarmid describing the tariffs as an existential threat and GMB's Charlotte Brumpton-Childs calling them a hammer blow that could end steelmaking in the UK without proper safeguards.
The EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, denied the move was hostile to the UK, noting that once proposals are submitted to the World Trade Organization, the commission would discuss an allocation of steel quota for the UK. The UK is currently the EU's number one export market for steel.
