Relief for UK steel industry as Trump delays ramping up tariffs to 50% AGAIN – but STILL no sign of the exemption Starmer boasted of in his trade deal
The UK steel industry was handed some relief today as Donald Trump delayed hiking tariffs again.
The US president has extended the deadline for increasing levies on global imports from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.
However, negotiations are still ongoing over implementing the promised exemption for British steel.
Keir Starmer boasted about the industry being spared all levies when he unveiled a Transatlantic trade pact in May.
However, steel was not covered in the implementation text released last month – with the UK subject to a 25 per cent rate.
Mr Trump had warned that could rise to the 50 per cent being imposed on the rest of the world from July 9 unless terms were finalised.
But that deadline was extended overnight, with worldwide trading partners given until August 1 to do deals.
The UK steel industry was handed some relief today as Donald Trump delayed hiking tariffs again
A worker at one of the blast furnaces at British Steel’s site in Scunthorpe
Keir Starmer boasted about the steel industry being spared all levies when he unveiled a Transatlantic trade pact in May
Asked whether the new date was a hard deadline, Mr Trump fueled speculation he is engaging in negotiating tactics, saying: ‘I would say firm, but not 100 per cent firm.
‘If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.’
UK sources have admitted the the issues are ‘complicated’, with America worried about creating a loophole for imports from China.
Standing alongside Sir Keir at the G7 summit in Canada last month, Mr Trump said the deal was ‘done’, and refused to make any firm commitment to further progress on steel levies.
The agreement with the US had already come under fire in some quarters for ‘shafting’ the UK, with America openly boasting that it had managed to achieve higher tariffs than before and get more access to markets.
But asked if steel tariffs would be set to zero for the UK, the US President replied: ‘We’re gonna let you have that information in little while.’
The UK has also not obtained any guarantee that the crucial pharma industry will not be hit with tariffs, and there are claims Sir Keir has conceded the NHS will pay billions of pounds more for drugs.
Asked whether Britain would be shielded from future tariffs, Mr Trump said the UK was protected ‘because I like them’.
‘The UK is very well protected, you know why? Because I like them. That’s their ultimate protection,’ he said.
The agreement with the US had already come under fire in some quarters for ‘shafting’ the UK, with America openly boasting that it had managed to achieve higher tariffs than before and get more access to markets
