The backlash against US President Donald Trump’s planned steel import tariffs has grown – with the EU threatening to retaliate
British steel makers have blasted US President Donald Trump’s “sledgehammer” import tariffs, warning the UK will be among the countries facing the biggest shock.
Trade body UK Steel said exports to the States now face a 25% import tax after President Trump ordered a new levy on all steel and aluminium entering the US. The move cancels out previous quota arrangements and exemptions, including for the UK and EU, it said. And it claimed the new tariffs “primarily target US allies”, such as the UK, as most other countries were already subject to 25% steel tariffs.
The White House says steel imports from Australia, the EU, Japan, and the UK rose from 18.6% in 2020 to 20.7% in 2024. However, UK Steel says this ignores 2020’s historically low demand during the Covid pandemic. It says UK steel exports to the US were actually 14% lower in 2024 than in 2018 when tariffs were first introduced.
Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel, said: “President Trump has taken a sledgehammer to free trade with huge ramifications for the steel sector in the UK and across the world. This will not only hinder UK exports to the US, but it will also have hugely distortive effects on international trade flows, adding further import pressure to our own market.” UK steel poses no threat to US national security. Our high-quality products serve key US industries, many of which cannot source these domestically. This is a moment where our countries should work together to tackle global steel overproduction, not to be at loggerheads. The UK stands with the US on tackling global excess steel capacity and unfair trade, and our industry urges the UK Government to take stronger action on these issues.
Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary at the Community union, said: “The new tariff confirmed by Donald Trump is a huge cause for concern, and represents a retrograde step for the steel industry and economies on both sides of the Atlantic. There is now an even greater need for comprehensive safeguards to protect our domestic steel from cheap overseas steel imports.”
Mr Trump said he would follow with announcements about reciprocal tariffs on all countries that impose duties on US goods over the next two days, and said he was also looking at tariffs on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Asked about threats of retaliation by other countries against his new tariffs, Trump said: “I don’t mind.”
The EU has vowed to hit back at US tariffs on steel imports. Brussels threatened “firm and proportionate countermeasures” in a ratcheting up of a trade war triggered by President Donald Trump. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests.”
EU tariffs on US products such as bourbon, motorcycles and orange juice are currently suspended until the end of March. Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s trade chief, described the US decision in a speech in the European Parliament as a “lose-lose scenario”.
Steel imports accounted for about 23% of American steel consumption in 2023, with Canada, Brazil and Mexico the largest suppliers. Canada, whose abundant hydropower resources aid its metal production, accounted for nearly 80% of US primary aluminium imports in 2024.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the tariffs “unacceptable”. He added: “Canadians will stand up strongly and firmly if we need to.” While China exports only tiny volumes of steel to the US, it is responsible for much of the world’s excess capacity.
