According to official and publicly available sources, the UK and the US intend to finalize a trade agreement by the end of July that will eliminate the 25% Section 232 tariffs on British steel exports.
This follows recent progress in the negotiations on product acceptance and volume quotas, which previously delayed the implementation of the tariff elimination program.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump in Scotland later in July during the president's private visit to the country. It is expected that the meeting, which will be held informally, will be devoted to finalizing the terms of the agreement. The U.
S. government said the two leaders would review the agreement reached in principle in May.
The framework for tariff cancellation was outlined in a White House document released on June 23, following an executive order signed by President Trump on June 16. The document describes how the new quota system will work and which steel products will be subject to the tariff cancellation, but it does not specify a timeline for when the changes will take effect.
Under the proposed agreement, the United States would eliminate tariffs on British steel in exchange for reciprocal cuts. about UK tariffs on ethanol and beef. Progress has stalled due to technical differences over which steel products meet the requirements of the new system.
The two largest steel producers in the UK, Tata Steel and British Steel, are facing uncertainty about their compliance. Tata, which is moving into the production of electric arc furnaces (EDP), imports semi-finished steel products to the UK, which initially seemed to be beyond the scope of the deal.
"We welcome the progress made by the UK government, in cooperation with the US administration, in this clearly dynamic situation. We are still very hopeful that the UK and US governments will be able to reach a positive trade agreement with zero tariffs for the UK steel sector, especially given that most of the products we supply to this market cannot be produced locally. Timing is still crucial as we and our customers are still subject to 25% tariffs while negotiations are ongoing," a Tata Steel representative told Fastmarkets.
"A trade agreement with the United States, however, will not eliminate the need to replace British equipment. own protective measures with a stricter and more effective mechanism. This is necessary to ensure that our domestic market remains competitive and protected from excessive trade flows.,
