Trump tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium come into effect globally as Europe says it will retaliate – business live | Trump tariffs

Unite, the UK’s biggest union, is calling on the government to immediately designate UK-produced steel as critical national infrastructure.

Unite believes there should be strict procurement rules for public sector projects to ensure they always use UK produced steel, and that that all future major infrastructure projects should be required to use UK produced steel.

By designating steel as a critical national infrastructure, in the interests of national security, the government would not be breaking competition rules.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:

Our government must act decisively to protect the steel industry and its workers following the announcement of US tariffs.

This is a matter of national security. Steel should be immediately designated as critical national infrastructure to properly protect it.

Given the importance of steel to our economy and our everyday lives it is vital it is designated as critical national infrastructure and rules are introduced to ensure that the public sector always buys UK produced steel.

Unite is a member of the government’s steel council and said it will fight to ensure that the government’s £2.5bn investment in the industry is used to develop green steel connected with job guarantees.

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, a Treasury minister has insisted.

The UK reserves its right to retaliate but will adopt a “pragmatic” approach in response to global tariffs imposed by the US, James Murray, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said, echoing the comments (verbatim) made by the UK’s trade and business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds.

Asked whether Britain’s response to the tariffs could be called weak in comparison with Brussels, Murray told Sky News:

Well, we’re in a very different position than the EU as a result of the prime minister’s trip to Washington last month.

The UK and the US have been negotiating rapidly for an economic agreement, and so we’re in a position where that negotiation is ongoing and these global tariffs, if you like, have landed in the middle of that work. So we don’t want to be pushed off course by this.

We want to carry on with our rapid negotiation toward an economic agreement, because we think that’s in the best interest of British businesses and the British public.

Murray said the UK should avoid a “knee-jerk response”.

We think the right response is to continue pragmatically, cool-headedly, without a knee-jerk response, but toward our economic agreement that we’re negotiating with the US to secure, because that’s in the best interests of the UK.

Asked whether the imposition of retaliatory tariffs would remain on the table, Murray told Times Radio:

We reserve our right to retaliate, but we’re very clear that we want a pragmatic approach, working closely and productively with the US.

The tariffs will have “hugely damaging consequences for UK suppliers and their customers in the US,” the UK’s industry group UK Steel warns. They will also have a further harmful indirect effect of deflecting steel trade from the US into markets like the UK. Further reciprocal tariffs are expected to be announced by the US on 2 April.

The US is the UK’s second most important export market for steel after the EU, particularly as it is a high value market, UK Steel explains. US exports account for 9% of UK steel exports by value and 7% by volume. This is mostly specialist steel that goes into areas such as defence, oil and gas, construction equipment and packaging.

This comes at a time of global overcapacity and oversupply, high energy costs, and weak demand, making the the blow to UK exports “all the more detrimental”.

UK Steel director general, Gareth Stace, said:

Today’s imposition of tariffs on UK steel from the US administration is hugely disappointing. President Trump must surely recognise that the UK is an ally, not a foe. Our steel sector is not a threat to the US, but a partner to key customers, sharing the same values and objectives in addressing global overcapacity and tackling unfair trade.

These tariffs 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.

It is essential that the UK Government not only continues efforts to negotiate exemptions with the US, but also takes decisive action to bolster our trade defences. We greatly appreciate all the efforts that have been made so far and will continue working closely with our Government to secure the best possible outcome.

The UK is only partially shielded from trade diversion. Steel safeguard quotas have been liberalised every year and are now 22% larger than when they were first introduced in 2018. At the same time, UK demand has contracted by 16%. These quotas are oversized and do not offer adequate protection from the large-scale trade diversion that is likely to take place, UK Steel says.

These measures will lapse in June 2026. It is essential that existing measures are tightened, as the EU is doing with its own measures, and concrete plans are put in place for the replacement of safeguards, ideally well before their expiry. There is a huge amount of momentum around steel in the EU, including its Steel and Metals Action Plan which will be presented on 19 March. This will further add to the pressure both on the UK’s direct exports, as well as our trade defences.

Julia Kollewe in London has taken over.

The European Commission said steel and aluminium products would be hit with tariffs in return, but also textiles, leather goods, home appliances, house tools plastics and wood. Agricultural products will also be impacted — including poultry, beef, some seafood, nuts, eggs, sugar and vegetables.

The commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen said:

We will always remain open to negotiation. We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs.

Donald Trump has said his taxes would help create US factory jobs, but von der Leyen warned:

Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States.

We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy.

The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said yesterday that Britain would not hit back with its own counter-tariffs, after last-ditch efforts to persuade Trump to spare British industry from his global tariffs appeared to have failed.

Read the full story below:

Here is some reaction from the UK with Britain’s trade and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds saying on Wednesday that he was disappointed with the US imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium.

Reynolds said:

I will continue to engage closely and productively with the US to press the case for UK business interests.

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.

I will continue to engage closely and productively with the US to press the case for UK business interests. We will keep all options on the table and won’t hesitate to respond in the national interest.

He added that the government remains “resolute” in its support for UK industry.

This government is working with affected companies today, and I back industry’s application to the Trade Remedies Authority to investigate what further steps might be necessary to protect UK producers.

Ed Husic, Australia’s industry and science minister, spoke to ABC TV on Wednesday and was asked if he considered tariffs as the way to treat a good friend and ally.

Husic responded:

Let’s call a spade a spade. I think this is a dog act after over a century of friendship.

Australians have stood by and stood with Americans for many decades. In fact, Australians have spilled blood alongside Americans in different conflicts. We have stood together not just from a national security perspective but from an economic security perspective as well, trying to improve trade relationships between countries because it is good for economies and workers when done right.

What we have seen here, what has it been for?

The European Commission said on Wednesday it would impose “countermeasures” starting from 1 April in response to US tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium imports.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that Brussels would be “launching a series of countermeasures” in response to the “unjustified trade restrictions”.

The EU must act to protect its consumers and business.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the global response to Donald Trump’s new tariffs. The 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminium came into effect at midnight ET “with no exceptions or exemptions”.

The European Commission responded almost immediately, saying it would impose counter tariffs on €26bn ($28bn) worth of US goods from next month.

“We deeply regret this measure,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement about the US tariffs, as Brussels announced it would be “launching a series of countermeasures” in response to the “unjustified trade restrictions”.

Australian deputy prime minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday the lack of exemptions was “really disappointing”, calling tariffs “an act of kind of economic self-harm”. He told radio station 2GB:

We’ll be able to find other markets for our steel and our aluminium and we have been diversifying those markets.

You can read the full story here and stick with us for all the developments as they unfold.

The Agenda

• 12.30pm GMT: US inflation for February (previous: 3%, forecast: 2.9%)

• 1.45pm GMT: Bank of Canada interest rate decision (forecast: cut to 2.75% from 3%)