British steelmakers face a nervous wait to discover if they will be hit by US tariffs, after the UK government said it was attempting to complete a deal to protect the industry from Donald Trump’s trade war.
The US has set a 50% tariff on foreign steel and aluminium imports. While the UK has brokered a reduced rate of 25% and is trying to bring it down to zero, a deal has not yet been completed.
On Monday, Downing Street refused to confirm it was confident it could eliminate US tariffs on UK steel before Trump’s deadline on 9 July.
A spokesperson for No 10 said: “Our work with the US continues to get this deal implemented as soon as possible.
“That will remove the 25% tariff on UK steel and aluminium, making us the only country in the world to have tariffs removed on these products.
“The US agreed to remove tariffs on these products as part of our agreement on 8 May. It reiterated that again at the G7 last month. The discussions continue, and will continue to do so.”
The Trump administration has said it will send letters to trading partners without a deal by 9 July. On Monday, Trump caused some confusion over whether tariffs would be implemented by the 9 July deadline, before his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said tariff rates would take effect on 1 August.
When asked again whether ministers were confident British producers will not be hit by the original 50% tariff, the Downing Street spokesperson said that “discussions continue”.
“We have very close engagement with the US, and the US has been clear that it wants to keep talking to us to get the best deal for businesses and consumers on both sides,” they said.
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Starmer and Trump signed off a UK-US trade deal at the G7 summit in Canada last month. Under the agreement, the UK aerospace sector will face no tariffs at all from the US, while the car industry will have 10% tariffs, down from 25%.
The US executive order implementing the deal highlighted the British steel industry, noting the UK “has committed to working to meet American requirements on the security of the supply chains of steel and aluminium products … and on the nature of ownership of relevant production facilities”.
It likely reflects worries in the US about Jingye Group, which owns British Steel despite the fact that the British government took control of the company in April to stop the closure of its Scunthorpe plant. The Trump administration has sought assurances that China’s Jingye does not use British Steel as a route to circumvent US tariffs.