UK will not rush to respond as Trump tariffs take ‘sledgehammer to free trade’

Donald Trump’s determination to slap tariffs connected imports of alloy from the UK volition not trigger a “knee-jerk” effect from the Government contempt warnings astir the devastating interaction connected the industry.

Trade curate Douglas Alexander said the Government would follow a “cool and clearheaded” attack alternatively than rushing into retaliatory measures.

The alloy manufacture assemblage said Mr Trump’s announcement had taken a “sledgehammer to escaped trade”.

Ministers are holding talks with the manufacture earlier the commencement of the tariffs connected US alloy imports from March 12.

Mr Alexander told MPs: “What British manufacture needs and deserves is not a knee-jerk reaction, but a chill and clearheaded consciousness of the UK’s nationalist involvement based connected a afloat appraisal of each the implications of the US actions.”

He added that the UK had a “strong and balanced commercialized relationship” with the US.

“We basal acceptable to enactment with President Trump to find solutions that enactment for some the United Kingdom and the United States,” helium added.

Britain exported 166,433 tonnes of alloy to the US successful 2023, the past afloat twelvemonth for which figures are available.

Figures from commercialized assemblage UK Steel showed that successful 2024 immoderate 162,716 tonnes were sent to the US, but that does not yet see information from December.

UK Steel warned the tariffs “would beryllium a devastating stroke to our industry”.

Mr Trump said the tariffs are “the opening of making America affluent again”.

Mr Trump has argued that the measures are indispensable to support the US alloy manufacture and nationalist security.

But UK Steel dismissed the president’s assertion that alloy imports from Australia, the EU, Japan, and the UK roseate from 18.6% successful 2020 to 20.7% successful 2024 due to the fact that it ignored the demand-lowering interaction of the Covid-19 pandemic.

UK alloy exports to the US were really 14% little successful 2024 than successful 2018 erstwhile tariffs were introduced by Mr Trump successful his archetypal word successful the White House.

UK Steel director-general Gareth Stace said: “President Trump has taken a sledgehammer to escaped trade, with immense ramifications for the alloy assemblage successful the UK and crossed the world.

“This volition not lone hinder UK exports to the US, but it volition besides person hugely distortive effects connected planetary commercialized flows, adding further import unit to our ain market.

“UK alloy poses nary menace to US nationalist security. Our high-quality products service cardinal US industries, galore of which cannot root these domestically.

“This is simply a infinitesimal wherever our countries should enactment unneurotic to tackle planetary alloy overproduction, not to beryllium astatine loggerheads.”

Alasdair McDiarmid, adjunct wide caput astatine the Community union, which represents galore steelworkers, said: “The caller tariff confirmed by Donald Trump is simply a immense origin for concern, and represents a retrograde measurement for the alloy manufacture and economies connected some sides of the Atlantic.

“There is present an adjacent greater request for broad safeguards to support our home alloy from inexpensive overseas alloy imports.”

Downing Street declined to criticise the US president’s decision.

The Prime Minister is hoping to sojourn Washington successful the coming weeks for face-to-face talks with Mr Trump, but nary details person yet been confirmed connected the timing of the trip.

Asked if the US President’s tariffs were wrong, Sir Keir’s authoritative spokesperson said: “We volition instrumentality a considered attack to this. We volition prosecute with the US connected the detail, but the Government is wide we volition enactment successful our nationalist involvement and this contented is nary antithetic to that.”

Asked if the UK is prepared to enact retaliatory tariffs, the spokesperson said helium was not going to “get ahead” of conversations with the alloy industry.

The determination to enforce tariffs connected UK alloy presents an aboriginal situation for the UK’s caller ambassador to the US Lord Mandelson.

He said “President Trump’s medication is shaping up to beryllium 1 of the astir consequential periods successful modern America” and helium has been “energised by the opportunities opening up” for person collaboration.

He said Sir Keir Starmer’s Government tin “always marque our views known privately and directly” to Mr Trump but that it indispensable “understand what drives him”.

Lord Mandelson acknowledged helium is “concerned” astir the looming imaginable of tariffs and said Britain volition “not needfully agree” with each item of the caller US president’s agenda.

Asked however the UK could effort to transportation Mr Trump to alteration his presumption connected definite argumentation areas without alienating his administration, helium told the BBC: “Well, we’ve got to instrumentality each these issues arsenic they come, realise that the president has a precise beardown and wide mandate for alteration successful the United States.

“Now that doesn’t mean to accidental that we’re going to hold successful Britain with each azygous item of what helium does, but we person to respect and recognize what drives him, what his mandate is to do, and however his allies request to set sometimes.”

Cabinet Office curate Nick Thomas-Symonds, who is starring the Government’s efforts to get person commercialized ties with the European Union, said the UK volition not take betwixt Brussels and Washington.

He said determination are important opportunities to amended commercialized and deepen relationships with some the EU and US.

He told MPs: “I deliberation it’s perfectly imaginable to cuddle much than 1 idiosyncratic astatine the aforesaid time.”