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The United Kingdom's beleaguered steel industry will suffer a blow on New Year's Day, when rival European Union steelmakers start avoiding a 25 percent tariff on exports to the United States.
The tariff will no longer apply to EU exports thanks to a deal worked out between Washington and Brussels that would have applied to the UK, had it not left the bloc.
EU companies will also be able to export aluminum tariff-free.
The UK's international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, tried and failed to secure the same deal during a visit to the US. The Guardian newspaper said she is hoping to talk about the subject again when the US commerce secretary visits London in January.
Gareth Stace, the director-general of UK Steel, told The Guardian: "UK steel exports to the US have halved since President Trump introduced steel tariffs in 2018. There can be no doubt these measures have significantly harmed the UK's interests in its second-biggest steel export market."
Donald Trump introduced the tariffs on so-called national security grounds, after claiming imports undermined the US' ability to make its own steel. President Joe Biden has since failed to rescind the highly controversial legislation.
The tariff-busting deal between the US and the EU could also impact UK steel exports to Europe because it includes a clause that calls for tariffs to be applied to EU products that include processed UK steel.
The UK's steel industry has called on the government to offer state aid to help it through the crisis.
Stace said: "It is essential that the government strains every sinew to secure a deal and ensure that UK steelmakers are able to sell their steel into the United States."
Business Matters magazine quoted Harish Patel, from the union Unite, as saying the government must explain why the EU managed to get a deal while the UK failed.
"The government has to sort this matter out quickly," he said. "Unless the tariffs are speedily lifted, hundreds of jobs in the steel and associated industries … are at risk."
The UK government has insisted Washington's apparent snub is not linked to London's threats to reimpose a hard border on the island of Ireland, which would inflame sectarian violence and anger the US.
And Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has said it is ready to retaliate with sanctions on US exports to the UK, if necessary.
Steel has been an important part of the UK economy for more than 200 years and was a driver of the Industrial Revolution.
After producing more steel than any other nation during the first half of the 19th century, the UK has steadily slipped down the rankings.
Automation and reduced competitiveness have seen the number of people working in the sector fall from 197,000 in 1974 to around 18,000 today.
Source | China Daily Global
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