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<\/div>\nThe BBC understands that a proposed deal to eliminate tariffs on UK steel exports to the US has been put on hold indefinitely.<\/p>\n
Tariffs of 25% are currently applied to steel exports to the US, which make up 6% of all UK steel exports by volume and 9% by value.<\/p>\n
A government spokesperson said: “We are still the only country to benefit from a 25% tariff on steel exports to the US, reinforcing our position as a trusted source of high-quality steel.”<\/p>\n
Other countries face tariffs of 50% and so senior government sources insist that the UK is in a competitive position relative to others, and added they believed there, although senior government sources insist there “remains a path to zero”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
However, an agreement to reduce them to zero in short order was welcomed with some fanfare at the time by the government and the industry in July.<\/p>\n
At the time the 25% tariff was first imposed, steel executives described the move as “devastating”.<\/p>\n
However, industry sources told the BBC today that while the news was disappointing, the UK still enjoyed a comparative advantage over other producers who face 50%. <\/p>\n
One added that it at least gave the industry some certainty in a world where a surplus of cheap steel was causing many countries to erect trade barriers to protect their domestic industry. Gareth Stace from UK Steel said the UK should do the same.<\/p>\n
“It is even more imperative now that the UK government beefs up its own trade defences to ensure UK steelmakers have a sustainable share of their own market. In these market conditions, the last country to protect their industry will be the first to lose it,” he said.<\/p>\n
A government spokesperson said: “We are continuing to work closely with the US to deliver certainty for UK industry, protect skilled jobs and support economic growth as part of our Plan for Change.”<\/p>\n
Andrew Griffith, the shadow business and trade secretary, criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the development.<\/p>\n
“The Prime Minister claimed credit for negotiating steel tariffs to zero,” he said.<\/p>\n
Hopes of a hasty deal to remove tariffs completely hit snags as US officials raised questions about the exports from the UKL’s largest steel maker Tata, which has shut down its blast furnaces – meaning that steel is not made from scratch in the UK – pending the completion of new Electric Arc furnaces due to be completed in 2027.<\/p>\n
The steel industry in the UK is in considerable financial distress, which has seen the government take over running Chinese-owned plants in Scunthorpe while Liberty Steel plants in Rotherham and Stocksbridge collapsed into government control last month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Published at Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:14:14 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UK hopes for 0% tariff on steel exports to US dashed The BBC understands that a proposed deal to eliminate tariffs on UK steel exports to the US has been put on hold indefinitely. Tariffs of 25% are currently applied to steel exports to the US, which make up 6% of all UK steel exports… Continue reading UK hopes for 0% tariff on steel exports to US dashed<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk-politics","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}