Keir Starmer has said he will not hit back with immediate counter-tariffs if Donald Trump imposes 25% levies on all steel and aluminium imports to the US on Wednesday.
The prime minister discussed the issue with Trump in a phone call on Monday and is prepared for the tariffs to be imposed at 4am UK time on 12 March.
His comments on Tuesday came as Trump announced on social media that he was doubling the size of the steel and aluminium tariff in the case of Canadian imports – from 25% to 50% – in retaliation for Ontario province imposing a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the US.
Downing Street’s official spokesperson said: “The UK and US have got a strong economic relationship. It’s based on fair and balanced, reciprocal trade and we’re engaging closely with the US administration to make the case for the UK to be exempt from proposed tariffs.
“And, more broadly, we’ve been very clear that when it comes to the UK steel industry we remain prepared to defend the UK’s national interest where it’s right to do so. But we will continue to take a cool-headed approach to any speculation around tariffs.”
He added: “We’ve got a £2.5bn commitment to invest to rebuild the UK steel industry and support communities now and for generations to come.”
When Starmer visited the White House in February, Trump suggested a “real trade deal” between the US and the UK could mean tariffs were not necessary.
Jonathan Reynolds, the trade and business secretary, also made the case for a UK exemption from the tariffs to the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, in a phone call on Sunday. Unlike other countries, the UK does not have a big trade surplus with the US.
According to government figures, 5% of Britain’s steel exports and 6% of aluminium exports by volume go to the US.
Political leaders and industry bodies have warned the tariffs risk damaging the UK and global market. Gareth Stace, the director general of the industry group UK Steel, has described them as a “sledgehammer to free trade, with huge ramifications for the steel sector in the UK and across the world”.
Japan and the EU have also made last-minute pleas for a U-turn, and Brussels has made clear it is ready to hit back with retaliatory measures. The EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said he spoke to Trump’s trade team when he visited Washington last month.
“We jointly identified the few areas that would allow us to move forward by fostering a mutual benefit. But in the end, one hand cannot clap,” Šefčovič told reporters in Brussels on Monday.
Japan’s trade minister, Yoji Muto, headed to Washington this week for last-ditch negotiations on a range of Japanese exports including cars, steel and aluminium, but failed to win an exemption for his country, a key US ally.
UK Steel has criticised the tariffs for primarily targeting US allies, such as the UK, as most other countries were already subject to 25% steel tariffs, while aluminium levies were previously 10%.
The presidential executive order announcing the tariffs cited rising global excess capacity, forecast to hit 630m tonnes in 2026, and concerns over cheap steel shipments from China. The proclamation claimed that steel imports from Australia, the EU, Japan and the UK had risen from 18.6% in 2020 to 20.7% last year, proving that quotas had been ineffective.
However, UK Steel pointed out that demand in 2020 was at a historical low because of the pandemic, and UK steel exports to the US last year were 14% lower than in 2018 when tariffs were first introduced.
