Britain has resisted imposing immediate retaliatory action against the duties
The European Union has fired back at the US with a retaliatory tariff, after President Donald Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to 25% globally.
Duties will be imposed on €26bn (£22bn) worth of the US’ industrial and agricultural products from April 1, in response to the “unjustified” tariffs, with the EU dubbing countermeasures as “swift and proportionate.”
It comes after the latest salvo in Trump’s attempt at correcting perceived trade imbalances and reigniting domestic manufacturing.
The tariffs came into effect at midnight in the US, around 4am GMT, and raise a flat duty on steel and aluminium entering America to 25%.
Trump’s announcement of the duties in February has left the US stock market teetering and heightened fears of an economic slowdown across the country.
Hours before enacting the latest tariffs, Trump reversed a threat to double the rate on steel and aluminium to 50% from Canada, the US’s top source of imports for the metals.
Britain has resisted imposing immediate retaliatory action against the move, but Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “It’s disappointing the US has today imposed global tariffs on steel and aluminium.
“We are focused on a pragmatic approach and are rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the US to eliminate additional tariffs and to benefit UK businesses and our economy.”
The UK is in a “very different position than the EU” and does not want to be “pushed off course” by global tariffs imposed by Donald Trump from its pursuit of an economic deal with the US, Exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray told Sky News.
Industry boss Gareth Stace, the director general of trade association UK Steel, branded the Trump administration’s move “hugely disappointing”.
He added that they “couldn’t come at a worse time for the UK steel industry, as we battle with high energy costs and subdued demand at home, against an oversupplied and increasingly protectionist global landscape.
“What’s more, the EU is also pushing ahead with trade restrictive action that will amplify the impact of US tariffs.”
Before Wednesday, Trump had only enacted tariffs that applied to China, Mexico and Canada this term.
Steel tariffs of 25% launched in Trump’s first administration and continued by former President Joe Biden resulted in American importers shifting to other sources.
However, the Biden administration had allowed for exceptions on the duties from US allies, including Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.
Trump’s latest action reverses that with no exceptions on any countries’ steel imports to the US. The same applies for aluminium, with rates climbing to 25% from 10%.
China is the only country whose aluminium and steel will be tariffed at rates higher than 25%.
That’s because a 20% across-the-board tariff on Chinese imports was already in effect prior to Wednesday, and the 25% steel and aluminium tariff will be tacked on top of that, bringing the total tariff rate to 45% on steel and aluminium from there.
America imports very little steel directly from China, by far the world’s largest producer of steel.
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