Steel tariffs: UK ‘ready for all situations’, No10 says on Trump threats
The UK is “ready for all situations” and ministers will “engage as appropriate”, No10 has said, in the wake of Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US
It follows a government minister saying Britain will have to “wait and see” if Donald Trump “gets more specific” about his warning.
Speaking on Air Force One, on his way to the Super Bowl in New Orleans last night, the US President told reporters he plans to announce new 25 per cent tariffs on the metal imports.
He said: “We’ll also be announcing steel tariffs on Monday… everybody, steel. Any steel coming into the United States will have 25 percent tariffs – aluminium too.”
Industry trade body UK Steel has warned “the imposition of US tariffs on UK steel would be a devastating blow to our industry” and highlighted that the “US is our second largest export market after the EU”.
Asked if the government was worried about the threat of tariffs, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the UK and US “work closely together on a range of economic issues, supporting jobs” on both sides of the Atlantic.
He added: “We will obviously continue to have those conversations with counterparts in the US.
“I haven’t seen any detailed proposals following the reporting overnight, but we will obviously engage as appropriate.”
Lord Peter Mandelson is still awaiting formal recognition as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, No10 indicated, but is able to work as the head of the British mission in the USA, with the steel issue likely to be at the top of his in-tray.
The spokesman would not be drawn into saying whether the UK would retaliate in the event the US did impose tariffs, describing the question as hypothetical, despite foreign secretary David Lammy telling the Guardian that the UK might be minded not to retaliate in such a situation.
He said: “It’s a cross-party position that we’re an open, free-market society that doesn’t believe in tariffs, in either direction.”
The US accounted for five per cent of UK steel exports in 2023, the spokesman said, adding ministers were committed to supporting the British steel industry.
It comes after a recent suggestion from the president that trade issues with the UK, as he sees it, could be “worked out” – sparking hope in Westminster that Britain could dodge the worst impacts of Trump’s ‘America first’ industrial policies.
According to Politico, a senior government aide said last night that ministers and officials were “seeking further clarification” and will “work closely with the industries affected”.
They added: “We’ve got a strong and balanced trade relationship with the US.”
Now home office minister Dame Angela Eagle insisted it is “in the best interests” of both the UK and US that the two countries carry on with their “balanced trade”.
She told Sky News: “We have a very balanced trading relationship with the US, I think £300bn worth of trade between our countries, and I think it’s in the best interests of both of us, as long-standing allies and neighbours, that we carry on with that balanced trade.”
We will have to wait and see whether the president gets more specific about what he meant by that comment on the way to the Super Bowl.
The UK sent around ten per cent of its total steel exports to America in 2024, and the government recently unveiled a new steel council in bid to shore up the industry described by UK Steel as “operating in a challenging and uncompetitive environment”.
Dame Angela also insisted the government was not considering watering down online safety rules in exchange for exempting the UK from any American steel tariff regime.
Asked about reports that changes to the Online Safety Act could be offered to the US administration in exchange for exemptions from tariffs, she said: “I certainly, from my perch in government, haven’t seen any corroboration that that’s likely to happen.”
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme that the government will have to see how the Online Safety Act operates when it comes into force at the end of March.
She said: “We know that, since the Act was passed, the tech bros in America have got very close to the administration there and are watering down rather than strengthening some of the rules about content.
“But I wouldn’t have thought there would be any justification whatsoever for keeping violent videos available across the globe when they can be taken down, and we are working very closely to ensure that we can get that damaging content off the internet so that it is not seen by people who can be radicalised by it.”
She added: “I can’t imagine that we would be in a situation where we would want to see a weakening rather than a strengthening of safeguards in that area.”
Downing Street has also said that there are no plans to change the implementation of the Online Safety Act.
Asked if there could be any changes to the law to appease the White House, the No10 spokesman said: “The Online Safety Act is already law, it’s already being implemented and over the coming months it will introduce strong protections for children in tackling illegal content online.
“It will oblige all social media companies to remove illegal content and content harmful to children here in the UK. Failure to abide by it could lead to significant fines and legal action.”
He said that “children’s safety online will always come first” and when pushed further on whether there could be any changes to the implementation of it, the spokesman added: “The implementation timetable is (…) as it has been set out.”
Tom Clougherty, executive director at the free-market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), said: “Tariffs are a tax on domestic consumers. With living costs high and growth sluggish, they are the last thing Britain needs right now.
“That logic doesn’t change just because other countries impose tariffs on the import of your goods. Retaliatory tariffs simply add to the pain.”
He added: “The government should pay little attention to what other countries do in response to US protectionism. The right course for Britain is to trade as freely as possible, whatever the circumstances.”
Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said: “In the face of Trump’s threats, ministers should be urgently working with international allies on a coordinated response.
“The government needs to spell out how it will protect the UK steel industry against Trump’s damaging tariffs.
“British jobs are on the line. Businesses and workers want to see the government stand up for them, not tiptoe round the issue.”
More to follow.