UK steel industry alarmed by Trump tariff announcement
President Donald Trump’s plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel imports to the US could have disastrous consequences for the UK steel industry, the sector’s trade body has warned.
The UK currently exports around £360m worth of high-value steel products into the US each year, almost 15 per cent of its steel exports. According to Richard Warren, UK Steel’s head of policy, tariffs of the kind proposed by Trump would seriously undermine the UK’s ability to compete in this market.
Trump’s proposal – which also includes a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imports – represents an effort to deliver on a campaign pledge to rebuild the US steel industry. The announcement is linked to efforts by to revive a rarely used law from 1962 that allows emergency trade sanctions on national security grounds.
World stock markets tumbled in the wake of the announcement as fears of a trade war loomed. Meanwhile, in the US whilst the move has been welcomed by domestic steel and aluminium firms, other manufacturers - particularly in the US automotive sector - saw their share prices fall, amidst concerns over higher raw material prices forcing them to put up prices.
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