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UK business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds will urge Donald Trump’s administration next week to quickly introduce a contract that will cut taxes on UK steel exports to zero, even after the US president vows to double his global steel tariffs to 50%.
British officials have admitted that there is still no “clear” as Trump’s new 50% tariff on steel and aluminum imports will reach the UK’s steel sector and £400 million exports to the US, as it comes into effect on Wednesday.
However, the outlook doesn’t look good. British officials admit that “it usually takes several months to enforce a trade transaction.”
President Trump and British Prime Minister Kiel signed their non-binding trade agreement on May 8th.
Reynolds will meet with Paris US trade official Jamieson Greer next week at the margins of the OECD meeting to slam the “timeline” to carry out the so-called economic prosperity trade.
Priorities welcomed it as a big coup after Trump won the first deal on trade with the US since he began to impose high tariffs.
“The situation with steel is still unknown,” one British official said, but another said there is a particular focus on London to convince Trump to accelerate another agreement to cut tariffs on UK automobiles.
Gareth Stace, director of the British Steel Trade Organization, warned that Trump’s plan to double steel and aluminum tariffs from 25% to 50% was a “baby blow.”
“There remains uncertainty about whether or not, when, or when the second largest export market is open for business or tightly closed in our faces,” he added.
On May 8, Trump agreed to cut the 27.5% tariffs on the first 100,000 vehicles shipped from the UK to 10%.
The priority also said that the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on UK steel and aluminum exports to zero, but is now set at 25%.
In return for Trump’s tariff cuts, the UK has given the US greater market access to beef, ethanol and industrial products. The proposed tariff reductions on both sides of the Atlantic have not yet been implemented.
The UK government said: “We are working to ensure that businesses can profit from trading as quickly as possible and to see their next steps in time.
“The US needs to follow the due process on their part and we will work very closely with them to make it happen as quickly as possible in the coming weeks.
“The trade and implementation of economic prosperity will soon be presented to Congress.”
Tariffs in the Trump division of automobiles and steel were not affected by the US International Trade Court’s decision on Wednesday that the “liberation day” tariff scheme was illegal.
But trade experts warn that the US president is unlikely to be distracted by his fight in court and focus on a trade deal with the UK.
